


All I want is you

by orphan_account



Series: For the Love for Bofur [2]
Category: The Hobbit (2012), The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, Gen, Lots of Hurt, M/M, Makeouts, Masturbation, Oral Sex, Unrequited Love, also fluffy Dwalin cause I bet he's a big softie, also this is 100 percent crack by now but that doesn't even stop me, lots of fluff, no established relationships!!! yet!, now contains 100 percent more gay buttsex too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-05
Updated: 2013-03-14
Packaged: 2017-11-28 08:28:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 63
Words: 51,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/672350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bofur can't help himself, he's certain that he's meant to be with Nori, but Nori does not want Bofur's love. How odd that the honest toymaker should fall in love with the lying thief. It turns out Bofur is wanted as well, but not by the one he loves.</p><p>Also contains Dwalin/Ori - very fluffy but followed by threats from Nori - and Bilbo/Thorin.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Technically a continuation of http://archiveofourown.org/works/650591 and http://archiveofourown.org/works/652002
> 
> But not necessarily. 
> 
> Also very short chapters, I apologize, but the later ones get longer. I make such awkward...chapter...endings...

Bofur sighed, tired eyes resting on the dwarf riding before him. He cursed his feelings for that dwarf, that stubborn thief, who had stolen his heart and then decided he did not want it. Every time Bofur thought he was done, Nori would smirk in his direction and his heart would again begin to make backflips in his chest. More than anything, Bofur cursed himself - only one love to be with him to the end (for this was love and not merely lust, Bofur knew), and he falls for one who does not want him.  
  
“So, did you tell him, brother?” Bombur mumbled to his right.  
  
The younger brother had never been good at reading people, not even his own family members, and Bofur briefly wondered just how obvious he was. Perhaps Bifur told him. Bofur cursed his cousin, suddenly certain he had been the one to tell Bombur.  
  
Bofur frowned, but kept an insecure smile. “Don’ wanna talk about it.”  
  
“Oh, I see,” was Bombur’s response, along with a sigh as heavy as his own body. “I could give you a few tips, if you’d like.”  
  
“I...no thank you.”  
  
Shaking his head at his brother’s stubbornness, Bombur quickened the pace to leave Bofur alone, allowing him some privacy as he sighed and wished for Nori to change his mind.  
  
As soon as Bombur had passed a few dwarves, apparently making his way to Bilbo, Nori turned around and stared at Bofur with a teasing smirk. “Are ye coming or not? Do ye wish to be left behind?”  
  
And Bofur’s heart went off again, jumping about in his chest as if it was trying to escape. With much strain, he managed to give a small grin back. “Not like I’m that far behind.”  
  
Nori’s smirk turned to a toothy grin, and he shook his head as he turned to see where he was going. Bofur found that it was just as hard to ride with a hopeful heart in his chest as it had been to ride with a broken one. Just like any dwarf truly in love, he couldn’t possibly stop loving his One Love, regardless of how many times he would get hurt.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bifur gives advice, Bofur takes up knitting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whenever something is written in italics, it's Khuzdul - I'd have loved to use actual Khuzdul, but it would be confusing and bothersome for everyone, I'm afraid!
> 
> Also I apologize to everyone who read this chapter before I noticed all of Bifur's lines disappearing...

Slumped down on a log beside the fire, Bofur continued to stare at Nori, following his every move. Nori on the other hand, seemed to be avoiding eye contact with Bofur, as he lifted his younger brother up and spun him around for a laugh, getting encouraged by Dwalin’s rumbling laugh in the background as well as Fili and Kili cheering him on.

" _Cousin_ ,"Bifur grunted in Khuzdul as he sat down next to Bofur.

“Ah, Bifur.” He didn’t take his eyes off Nori.

Bifur followed his cousins gaze, knowing what he’d find. " _Talk to him_."

“Ye know, I tried tha’,” Bofur mumbled with a sad smile on his lips. “Nori ain’t the talkative type. ‘specially when I’m the one who wants to talk.”

Bifur looked over at Nori again, as he stumbled into Dwalin with Ori still on his shoulder. " _No, him_ ," he said, pointing not to the Thief but the Scholar.

“Ori?” Bofur blinked a couple of times, rather confused.

" _Befriend his brother first_."

A couple more blinks. “I...didn’t think of that. Do ye really think that’ll work?”

Bifur nodded, and patted him on the shoulder. As Bofur made his way over to Nori, Ori and Dwalin - as Dwalin helped Ori get down from Nori - Nori quickly glanced at him and then averted his gaze, looking as though he would run away. Bofur’s stomach twisted at the sight of this, but he approached them with his customary grin.

“Ori, lad, what would ye say about perhaps...teaching me how to knit?”

Ori tilted his head slightly, as if asking why, and Dwalin grunted as if to ask the same.

“Ah, alright Mister Bofur, I could do that,” the youngest one said as his expression changed into a wide smile. “Would you like to start now?”

“Sure, nothin’ else goin’ on.”

As the two of them turned to find a pair of needles for Bofur to work with, he caught sight of Nori’s baffled face, his arms going from being crossed over his chest into plainly hanging by his sides. Perhaps that was a good sign, perhaps Nori was jealous - although that might not be the best thing. Bofur himself knew he wouldn’t react well to competition, but rather lose his courage, and when it comes to anger Nori had a very short fuse, attached to dynamite.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you squint REALLLLY hard you could see some minor Dwalin/Ori appearing already.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bofur feels daring, Dwalin is a klutz, and the quality of this fanfic is slowly but surely going down.

Knitting was harder than Bofur had thought. With the amount of concentration he had to use for it, he was surprised he hadn’t stopped breathing and passed out yet.

“You’re doing good, but maybe try doing it more like...” Ori trailed off as he reached over to help the older dwarf.

“Dinner,” Dwalin grunted at them, suddenly leaning over the two of them with a bowl in his hands for Ori as well as one for himself.

“Oh, thank you Mister Dwalin.” Ori smiled shyly.

Knowing when it was time to leave, Bofur got up and cracked his back stiffly, handing the needles and his attempted but unfinished scarf to Ori. “I’d like to try my hand at it again some other time.”

As he turned his back to them, he heard Dwalin mumble that he didn’t want Ori to call him “mister” which he seemed to have said many times already. This brought a wide smile to Bofur’s face, and a brief thought, a question, wondering if Dwalin was perhaps interested in the Company’s scribe. A look over his shoulder dismissed that thought, as he elbowed Ori in the ribs, making him drop his food all over his own lap. Poor little Ori.

Turning his head, he made eye contact with Nori, who immediately looked down. Purely out of spite, he made a point of taking the seat next to Nori once he got his own dinner. Bofur felt quite daring on this particular evening, which is why he’d follow Nori discretely when he tried shuffling away.

“Say, Nori, both yer brothers knit. Do ye knit as well?”

Yes, right, knitting. What an excellent subject. Bofur mentally slapped himself. At least it was better than asking him about the supposed thieving.

Nori looked up. “Not really, no.”

“Why not? It’s a very enjoyable...hobby” Bofur considered it for a moment. “At least I thought it was quite enjoyable.”

The only response was a grunt. A very uninterested grunt, followed by Nori finishing his meal and getting up from his place next to Bofur, only to be replaced by Fili and Kili, one on each side of him.

“Hi there, Mister Bofur,” Kili said happily.

Fili soon followed with: “Enjoying dinner?”

Eyes darting between the two of them, Bofur said that yes, he did like the dinner, it was quite tasty. He then excused himself before getting up and leaving, handing the empty wooden bowl to his brother.

“I shot it myself...” Kili mumbled with a pout, while his brother shot him an annoyed look.

“You scared him off!”

“No you did!”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A silly chapter about bathing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very thankful for all the comments and kudos! Perhaps I will speed up the uploading here, I have a number of chapters waiting to be read by you!

Bedtime brought some calm, and let Bofur take his mind off Nori. After spending hours trying to fall asleep - despite the calm, he always had trouble sleeping - he finally managed to drift off, and slept until late morning, when Bombur finally woke him up, confessing he’d eaten his brother’s breakfast because he’d slept too long.

Bofur merely smiled in return. “Don’t worry, Bom, I’m not feelin’ all that hungry.” He adjusted the hat on his head, having slept in it to make up for not having a proper pillow.

“If you’re interested, some of the others are taking a bath in the stream nearby.”

“And...who does that include?”

Bombur snorted. “I know who you mean, and he’s there, keeping an eye on his brother as he’s washing up after Dwalin’s...accident from yesterday. Dwalin, however, is washing young Ori’s clothes.”

“Dwalin? Huh?”

Bombur giggled a little. “He made Ori spill his food, remember? You know, he even let Ori borrow his own coat to stay warm during the night.”

Wide grin on his face, Bofur got up from his bedroll. Once he got down to the stream, he tried to undress himself as calmly as possible, even though he could feel Nori’s look burning him as he removed all his clothes. Only when he was completely nude did Nori look away, concentrating on his own younger brother. As Bofur entered the water - shivering slightly at how cold it was compared to his many layers of clothes - he tossed his hat on top of the pile of cloth he’d left behind, as well as undid his braids.

“Cold?” he heard a tiny voice from behind him, and there stood Bilbo, fully dressed.

“Oh, a bit, but quite decent,” Bofur replied with a grin. “Not gonna wash up, Mister Bilbo?”

The Hobbit looked unsure, looking over his shoulder before answering. “Hm, no, I’m alright.”

“Really?” Bofur cocked his head. “But it’s such a nice day, and who know’s when ye’ll get the chance next?”

Bilbo glanced over his shoulder once more before rubbing his face and giving in to the temptation of taking a bath. Out of courtesy, Bofur turned away and returned to washing himself, wetting his hair and rubbing the dirt away from his hands. By the time Bilbo joined them in the water, Thorin had not only arrived but also undressed quite quickly and got into the water, settling close to Dwalin who was still washing Ori’s coat, never really pleased with the result. Thorin mumbled about something that nobody but Dwalin could hear, but it certainly brought a grin to Dwalin’s face as he continued to scrub away at the coat.

“Nice day for a bath, eh?” Nori mumbled to the left of Bofur.

His hair was slicked to his body, mostly hidden in the water. He didn’t look at Bofur, he even faced away, but Bofur’s heart couldn’t help but flutter and speed up, and he grinned widely.

“Yes. Yes it is.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori is getting tired of avoiding Bofur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is turning into crack, I hope nobody minds~
> 
> This chapter exists mainly so Dwalin can get some time with Ori.

While most of the day was spent riding, Bofur tried his hand at knitting again in the meantime, riding alongside Ori. Nori, riding in front of them, glanced over his shoulder quite often, and Bofur still didn’t know if this was good or bad. Dwalin did so as well, he noted, but that was surely not just for their sake; most of the Company was behind Dwalin after all, he just wanted to make sure everyone was there. Ori didn’t have a problem with knitting while on a horse, but Bofur could barely knit at all, and so he eventually gave up and handed the needles back to Ori again.

Before he could stop himself, Bofur’s mouth had decided to chat with Ori. “So, tell me about yer brothers? Nori doesn’t like knitting, is there anything else he likes instead?”

Not very subtle, Bofur knew, but if Ori noticed he didn’t say anything about it.

“Well, I guess he likes card games...” Ori said, hesitating slightly.

“Ah. Card games.” Bofur’s eyes scanned Nori’s backside, before he snapped his head toward Ori again. “What kind of card games then?”

The younger one, clearly thinking of what to say before saying it, allowed himself to grin a little. “The kind where he can win money. He’s quite good at those.”

He wasn’t sure if it would work, but inviting Nori to a game of cards would be a better shot at getting time with him than following him as he shuffled away during dinner. Either that, or he could just stalk Nori into the woods if he volunteered to gather wood for the fire. Courting someone - especially someone who wants nothing to do with his suitor - was very difficult, Bofur thought to himself.

“Ori!” someone in the front called.

Bofur had expected it to be Nori - somewhere in the back of his mind he worried that Nori didn’t want him to talk to his brother either - but it turned out to be Dwalin, waving at Ori to come ride next to him. From what Bofur could tell from his place behind them, Nori and Dori both separating him from the Warrior and the Scholar, he guessed Dwalin wanted Ori to read something for him, something in a book.

Ori mumbled and pointed to something in the book, eyes meeting Dwalin’s as he - Bofur assumed - explained what it meant, or something along those lines. He had always suspected that Dwalin wasn’t very good at reading, because much like Bofur himself, Dwalin rarely did read, and had only been seen doing so for the past week. It did make sense for him to ask Ori for help with reading.

Bofur begun humming, a happy tune, secretly dedicated to the shy smile on Ori’s face when Dwalin flipped the page and pointed to another word, or sentence, or phrase. As if Nori knew the tune already, he joined in, quietly and a bit strained, as Bofur mentally added lyrics of how wonderful things suddenly seemed.

Once he allowed the humming to trail off, Nori looked over his shoulder to shoot Bofur a look. “Quite the tune you had going there.”

“I’m flattered, my good sir,” Bofur said happily, pretending to bow very dramatically.

This earned him an honest laugh from Nori, which in turn nearly gave Bofur a heart attack. He had his second hypothetical heart attack when Fili sped up to ride next to him and instead nearly fell off a cliff.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bofur tells a story and Fili and Kili try to hint at something. Nori can't make up his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Notice that I added some tags. Not even sorry, I can only say I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy this story as much as I do! Note that hardly anything from the book/movie has even happened yet, aside from Bilbo joining them.
> 
> I do apologize for some terrible storytelling (and plot holes in Bofur's storytelling - I learned that from watching TV and eastern European movies).

“Mister Bofur, do you have any stories to tell us?” Kili asked, excited expression covering his face.

Bofur considered it for a moment. “I s’pose I might have one.”

“Story? Are you telling a story, Mister Bofur?” Ori said happily, sitting down on the forest floor on his knees to come closer and hear better.

“Ah, ye might not like it, Ori. Actually, I don’t think anyone will, it’s rather sad.” Bofur frowned with a kind smile, hoping they didn’t want to hear it.

But the youngest ones kept insisting, asked again and again, pleading. Even Bilbo shuffled closer, earning himself a glare from Thorin as he seated himself next to Ori. Bofur smiled at this, at seeing them sit on the ground before him as if they were children, even though they’d be able to listen from their original places around the fire.

“Once, there was a dwarven bard,” he begun, “with a voice unlike any other. He would travel the lands on his own, referring to himself as part adventurer, singing to those he met for food and shelter, charming his way through the land. This bard was happy, for singing and travelling were his two passions, but he was terribly lonely.  
One day, he came upon a small town of Men, and although he felt intimidated - the Men were eyeing him, swords at their sides, and he was merely a poor unarmed bard - he needed food and sleep, so he walked into the inn, and there in the corner sat a woman, slender but not fragile, he could tell right away, with her face buried in a book.  
He walked up to her and asked for her name, but she did not tell, she did not even look at him. Frowning, he asked the innkeeper for her name, and the innkeeper explained that she had not answered him because she had not heard him, as she had lost her hearing in battle. She had once been a warrior, the only woman of their town to fight with the men, but did not dare venture far from the town without her hearing.  
The bard found himself staring at her all night, and the day after, until he gained the courage to attempt talking to her again. Communicating only with body language and very little text, he asked for her name again. She said - speaking, as she was deaf but not mute - that she was just a warrior, and asked for his. He said he was merely a bard. Once he had gotten to know more about her life he admitted to being stunned by her beauty, and said that he wished to court her. She told him that he should go, because a bard did not belong with a warrior, and a dwarf did not belong with a human, and so he left the town empty handed, but he left a note for her so she would know where he had gone.  
Before he could even set foot outside the town however, this little town was attacked by orcs, and as he got ready to run for his life, the woman from the inn appeared by his side, sword in hand. She fought them off, slaying all but one, the last one wounding her badly. The bard then got up and stood between the warrior and the orc as it reached up to strike again, holding out her sword in front of him. The orc struck him and impaled itself in the process. As he died in her arms, she whispered to him that she wished she had given him a chance.”

Bofur made a grimace at the end, not the least bit satisfied with the story he had made up on the spot - he had been certain they would not want to hear a story once he said it was a sad story, and was in fact not sure which story to tell (instead, it turned into a blend of three other stories, the characters being strongly inspired by people he knew).Ori had his hand covered by his mouth, a sad frown appearing on his face, while Bilbo looked horrified and upset in equal measure.

“That was...I’m not sure...” Bofur begun, only to get cut off by Kili, who had now thought about the story a second time.

“Something about...she shouldn’t have rejected him so easily?”

Fili nodded. “Yes, something like that.”

Bofur had not even considered that there was a point with the story he so terribly had tried to think of, but as he noticed Nori across the fire, an eyebrow raised at Bofur and a faint smile on his lips, he merely nodded.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up is Bofur gathering wood and then stopping to pleasure himself while he's alone. Yes. You read that right.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bofur wants pleasure in the woods, Bofur _gets_ pleasure in the woods. He also gets confusion in the woods.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm giving Nori some serious issues here. Clearly he's having a very difficult time making up his mind.  
> Stop sending mixed messages, Nori!!!
> 
> This was one of my favorite chapters to write though.

Gathering some more wood for the fire, Bofur considered quickly relieving himself while he had a moment alone, away from the watchful eyes of the Company. And by relieving himself, he meant to say that he would take a moment to masturbate behind a tree. He had barely placed the sticks he had found so far on the ground before he was interrupted.

“Bofur.”

He looked up. “...Nori.”

The dwarf in question stood leaned against a tree, and Bofur couldn’t tell but it felt like Nori had been there for quite a while.

“I thought ye didn’t want nothin’ to do with me?” he mumbled as he took a few steps forward.

When he didn’t get an answer, he tried again.

“Why are ye...avoiding me?” Bofur tried not to pout, and straining his face the way he did probably made it look worse than if he allowed himself to pout.

Nori tilted his head slightly, scanning Bofur from head to toe, before answering. “Wouldn’t wanna steal you away from the princelings, would I?”

A frown. “Prince- what do Fili and Kili have to do with this? I don’t like either of them, at least not like that, I like ye, yer....I...”

“Well they clearly like you. They’re the heirs, they can do whatever they want, they can have whoever they wish, no?” Nori snarled sarcastically.

Without thinking, Bofur had stepped in closer, his hand resting on Nori’s chest, near where his heart should be. He could feel the heartbeat. As he hadn’t gotten any bad response from Nori this far, he attempted to lean in but was rather disappointed when the other stepped away to avoid the kiss.

“I’m trying to tell you to stop. Give up. I’d only use you.”

Bofur reached up to scratch his head a little, and on the way down he grabbed the hat, pulling it off with a frown. He kept his gaze focused on the hat as he twisted it around a bit in his hands.

“I...don’t think I’d mind.” He felt a lump in his throat as he looked up at the one before him. “Then at least I'd be with ye for a little while.”

In the silence that followed, Nori went through many different emotions - mostly confusion or anger or a blend of the two, but also something that looked a little bit like guilt (but that was of course the dim light playing Bofur a prank) - and for a good while Bofur was sure that Nori would settle for anger. His suspicions became stronger when Nori jumped forward to roughly push him against a tree.

“What’s wrong with you?” he growled from between his teeth. “How can you still be interested even after I turn you down again and again? I don’t want you!”

“Lie.”

Grabbing Bofur’s coat, Nori slammed him against the tree once more. “Why would I lie? I’ve never been this honest in my life.”

Eyes closed, Bofur could feel the thief’s breath on his face and neck, and had he not known better he’d have thought Nori would take a bite of his neck. “If ye’ve never been honest before, why would I believe that ye’d start now...?”

He expected to get slammed against the tree again, but instead he felt Nori’s grip of his coat loosen up, one hand travelling to the toymaker’s face to lightly touch his lips. Then both hands went back to holding his coat, but pulled him forward into a passionate, albeit angry, kiss. Bofur’s lips felt as though they were on fire and he ached for more, but just as he gained the ability to move, he found that Nori had backed away again, now out of his reach.

“The princelings can have you!” he growled, as he stomped back to camp.

Bofur found himself utterly confused as he stared after Nori, soon recovering and picking his hat off the ground, placing it on his head where it belonged. He had no problem remembering what he’d been thinking of before he was interrupted by the maniac he believed to be his One. He merely picked up where he left off, now more motivated to get pleasure than before: after all, he’d been abandoned in the middle of a very intoxicating kiss, leaving much of what could have happened to Bofur’s own imagination. Looking down, he found that he was already quite hard, his grin growing wider at the sight.

“Oh, Nori,” he whispered as he stroked himself, trousers merely loosened and not pulled down, wishing the thief could have lent him a hand before he left.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The stubbornness of dwarves is starting to show.

For the first time in years, Bofur fell asleep within the first ten minutes of resting on his bedroll, relatively satisfied. He didn’t think much of Nori’s words, for his actions spoke louder to Bofur, and that was all that mattered. Waking up before sunrise, Dwalin shaking his shoulder to wake him, did not even feel like a problem. He shivered a bit as he sat down to keep watch, as the air was nowhere near as warm as his bedroll.

Unlike Bofur, everyone else seemed to sleep rather badly, Ori whimpering a bit in his sleep, curling up and turning a couple of times under his covers until Dwalin’s coat was placed over the covers - Dwalin probably thought Bofur was looking elsewhere, which he made sure to do when the warrior turned to go to his own bedroll. Ori took a few deep breaths, still asleep, then curled up a bit more and went on to sleep peacefully. While it was a sweet gesture, Bofur motivated himself to not tell anyone when they all woke up by thinking of the ways Dwalin could possibly hurt him.

To the right of Ori slept his older brother, the thief, tossing and turning and sweating under his thin covers, even though his brother appeared to have been freezing. Bofur was naturally concerned, and slowly got up to see if Nori was alright. The second Bofur kneeled next to him, his eyes flew open, both hands clutching at the covers. In his confusion - and quite possibly fear, after a nightmare that had him all sweaty - his eyes found the toymaker at his side.

“What are you doing?” he mumbled with a hoarse voice.

“I’m..waking ye up?”

Nori sat up. “But why?”

“Ye seemed to be having a nightmare. I know I’d want to be woken up if I was having a nightmare like tha’,” Bofur whispered with a shrug and a kind smile.

Nori slowly got up, looking around as if he was unsure how he got there, snarling at Bofur when he had tried to rest his hand on Nori’s shoulder. Once he noticed Dwalin’s coat on Ori, the young one clutching it tightly, he sat down again by his younger brother to attempt removing the coat. He didn’t want to wake Ori, of course, so he gave up when the scholar rolled over in his sleep, continuing to sleep with the coat under him. Bofur couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the sight.

Nori’s head snapped toward Bofur. “What are you laughing about?”

“The sight of ye trying to pry a coat off yer sleeping brother. And failing,” he whispered back with a wide smile.

Growling, Nori got up and walked over to the fire, Bofur following not far behind to sit down next to Nori. The latter shuffled away as soon as Bofur sat down, eyebrows pulled down in an attempt to look angry.

“Don’t sit next to me.”

Bofur shuffled closer with a grin - he was the one doing the teasing now. “Why not?”

Nori hissed at him and tried to move away again, settling on a tree they used as a bench around the fire. Bofur followed silently with a wide smile, eyes glued on Nori. When he tilted his head, he was told to stop staring, with a threat of getting his eyes poked out if he didn't.

"So last night-" Bofur started.

Nori's face was a dark shade of red when he grabbed the toymaker's collar, growling into his ear in a way that made Bofur shiver all over.  
"We do not talk about last night!"

Bofur merely kept staring, stunned by the look in Nori's eyes. This was definitely a step better than being ignored. This way, he was close enough that Bofur could reach out and touch him, and he could feel Nori's spicy scent around him. The fluttering in his stomach didn't care that he was being threatened, and before Nori could react, Bofur got a hold of Nori's shoulders and pulled him closer for a kiss. To Bofur's relief, Nori didn't try to move away, but instead kissed him back as he kept one hand on Bofur's collar, tugging him closer, and moved one hand up to lightly pull at the toymaker's braids.

Bofur attempted to move his hand up to Nori's hair, mirroring the thief's actions, but - lips still against Bofur's - he growled and gritted his teeth. "Not the hair..."

A soft chuckle escaped from between them as Bofur felt a bite on his lower lip, and assumed that Nori wanted better access, so he opened his mouth a bit. When Nori let go of Bofur - who had practically crawled into his lap by now - he took a few short breaths, only to return to the kiss, thoroughly exploring Bofur's mouth and occasionally nibbling at his lips (but very softly to not leave marks).

Suddenly cutting of the kiss, Nori's threatening grip of Bofur's collar returned. "This means nothing. I'm using you."

The toymaker blinked a bit at Nori, still smiling. "Yer the most confusin' person I've ever met."

"...we do not speak of this again," the thief whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The chapter where the canon timeline is finally acknowledged.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, almost exactly 1000 hits! I'm aware that could be 900 of "*open story* meh *close story*"s but hey, still! I'm also very thankful for the comments I've received, as well as the kudos (I do enjoy replying to comments, I really do, and seeing I have a new comment makes my day every time!).

Another day of riding came to a stop when Thorin decided he had found a place suitable for staying the night. Gandalf advised against it, but dwarves were a stubborn race, and so Gandalf left them, mentioning something about having had enough of dwarves for one day. Bofur had not thought much about Thorin’s nephews since Nori pointed out what they were trying to do, but he was glad to hear that they were stuck guarding the ponies. Awaiting dinner, Bofur spent some time trying to knit again, Ori patiently guiding him as he finished the scarf.

“That’s a very good scarf, Mister Bofur!” he said reassuringly, but Bofur was not entirely convinced it was supposed to look so...uneven.

“I’m not sure ‘bout that, shouldn’t it look more like the one yer wearing?” The toymaker tilted his head and frowned.

Ori seemed to try his hardest to spare Bofur’s feelings, but took long enough thinking of what to say that his brothers answered for him.

“Well, Ori’s scarf took longer, and he had more practice before making it,” Dori offered with a kind smile.

“Or maybe you’re just horrible at knitting,” Nori said with a grin.

Bofur decided to return the favor. “Yes, though I hear yer not great at it either.”

At this, Nori’s grin disappeared from his face, and he proceeded to occupy himself with making knots of a thread hanging from his sleeve. Dori however, snickered a bit, about as much as Bofur had ever seen him snicker - Dori was a very serious dwarf most of the time, quite possibly because he never seemed to stop being concerned for his younger brothers. While Bofur felt a bit bad for making fun of Nori, it was all in good fun and he meant nothing by it (even though it was true). At this point, dinner was just about ready, and Bofur asked their resident hobbit to deliver a bowl each for Fili and Kili, before settling down between Dori and Ori - Dwalin seemed to think there was enough space between the toymaker and the scholar for him to sit there, so he did, nearly spilling out both Bofur’s and Ori’s food in the process. As Bofur tried to join Dori and Nori’s conversation about Ered Luin, he couldn’t help but overhear Dwalin mumbling in the background.

“I-” he started before clearing his throat. “I like yer scarf. Say, lad, could yeh teach me how to knit too?”

“Oh, of course, Mister Dwalin!” Ori squealed, practically beaming with joy that knitting was becoming relatively popular.

Dwalin frowned a bit, making Ori correct himself - he wasn’t supposed to call Dwalin ‘Mister’ anymore - and Bofur tried to avoid staring at them, instead keeping his eyes on Nori. Nori, the thief, who was currently shuffling not further away, but instead closer. Dori, who sat between the two of them, picked up on the fact that he was about to get squeezed in between them if Nori kept shuffling and slowly stood up to sit somewhere else.

“I was done anyways,” he said proudly as he went, but he suspected nobody was listening.

Nori then continued to shuffle until he was as close to Bofur as he could possibly be.

“What...are ye doing?” Bofur asked with a fond smile on his lips.

This only earned him a glare before Nori returned to staring at his food. Bofur couldn’t help but attempt putting an arm around the other’s shoulder, but at this he got an elbow in his ribs - very gently, but enough to tell him to keep his hands to himself. Smirking a little, he put his bowl down on the ground and scratched his beard a little.

“Perhaps ye’d like to share a bedroll tonight, eh?” he mumbled as quietly as he could, leaning so close to Nori that his lips were nearly touching the thief’s ear. “Nothing frisky, jus’...maybe someone to keep ye warm?”

Nori shivered noticeably and turned his head to glare at the toymaker at his side. “Nothing frisky,” he repeated, noticeably tired of rejecting Bofur by now. “And don’t let the princelings find out.”

Springing from the woods, Kili and Fili suddenly came running as if they were chased by orcs. Dwalin stood up immediately, ready to face any threat they could possibly be running from, but they ran up to their uncle and begun speaking (or rather shouting), both at the same time, making it impossible to hear anything they said.

“Calm down!” Thorin demanded. “And then explain what’s going on.”

At this point most of the company had jumped to their feet to move closer, all of them wondering what could have happened. The two boys took a few deep breaths before they continued to talk, still breathing fast.

“We noticed some of the ponies were missing,” Fili started.

“And Bilbo was to look into it,” Kili continued.

Fili nodded. “Turns out it was trolls, and so he went to get a better look, to see if he could save the ponies-”

“-but he hasn’t come back yet, we think the trolls have him, we have to save him!” Kili shouted in one breath.

Thorin grabbed them both by their collars, almost lifting them off the ground, as he slowly growled at them, “You let the burglar go alone?”

“Which way, lads?” Gloin grunted beside them, weapons in hand and ready to go save the hobbit.

Soon enough, every dwarf of the company was armed and heading toward the trolls. Bofur did not hesitate to swing his mattock at them the second he saw them, even though they were so much larger than anything he had ever fought. To be fair, Bofur hadn’t fought many things in his life, but he knew how to and he knew that these trolls could probably turn him into a pulp in a few seconds. Nori however was glad that he was so much smaller than them, because even if that made it harder to match the strength of their opponents, it would have made escaping unnoticed easier. Overall, the fighting went better than anyone had expected it to. That is, until two of them had Bilbo in a tight grip, forcing the Company to surrender. Bofur was the first to lay down his weapons, not even waiting for Thorin to say so - letting Bilbo get ripped apart by trolls was not something Bofur wished to be part of.

Getting cooked over a fire along with his friends was not how any of them expected to die. Bofur could at least find some joy - and amusement - in the fact that he would technically die between Nori’s legs, as the trolls had tied them up in a way so that they overlapped each other, Bofur and Dwalin ending up between Nori and Ori’s legs (respectively), and Dori and Bifur being spared of the fate of the others, having been tied up alone to the left and right of Bofur. While he couldn’t tilt his head enough to see, he was fairly sure that Dori had grabbed both Ori’s and Nori’s hand. Perhaps this death wasn’t such a bad death. Sure, it would probably be painful, considering they were being cooked, but it could always be worse.

“The dawn will take you all!” Gandalf shouted as he cracked a stone, revealing sunlight to the trolls.

And just like that, the trolls were turned into stone.

“That was a close call,” Nori sighed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For the record, I did some "research" - Bofur is indeed tied up with his head between Nori's knees, and Dwalin is most certainly the one between Ori's. Funny it should work out like that.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trolls have been dealt with, now the Company only needs to look out for orcs and elves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here, have another chapter before I go to bed - this is absolutely the most boring chapter to write, I think, so I will upload a less boring one first thing in the morning. Then a very very fun one tomorrow evening! 
> 
> Stay tuned, leave a comment or something!

It didn’t take long to find the cave where the trolls ought to have stayed during daytime, but it smelled horribly. Thorin and Gandalf brought Dwalin - he was practically Thorin’s bodyguard at this point - as well as Nori, Bofur and Gloin. Why them, Bofur didn’t know, but once he noticed the gold just laying around on the floor he didn’t even care why. That was certainly a good amount of gold: why leave it for someone else to take?

“Nori, get a shovel,” Gloin said, only taking his eyes off the gold for a second.

Nori enjoyed shiny things, including gold, just as much as anyone else, and he hesitated slightly before fetching a shovel, unsure whether he wanted to look away from all that gold. By the time Bofur, Gloin and Nori finished the hole, placed a small chest of gold in it and then covered it up again, Thorin was already exiting the small cave. Rushing along, Bofur couldn’t help but stare at Nori’s back - it was convenient, considering it was already in front of him.

“Someone’s coming!” was all Bofur heard, throwing him off a bit before he grabbed his mattock tightly and continued to follow the behind before him, eyes glued to it as it’s owner picked up the pace.

This ‘someone’ happened to be a wizard, seemingly a friend of Gandalf, who came to inform the old man about a necromancer - all of this made no sense to the dwarves, and they stayed away to let the old men talk in private. The next part was a bit of a blur to Bofur, and to most of the other dwarves as well, considering they’d been robbed of all sleep and almost died for the first time on the quest. Perhaps Bilbo wasn’t the only one who was in over his head. When Bofur finally relaxed again, he was gazing at Rivendell after another close call, this time having been chased by orcs.

It seemed Thorin wanted them to go elsewhere - his hate for elves was widely known and shared with most dwarves - but Gandalf stood his ground, and Bilbo helped by gently leading Thorin down to Rivendell, a soft grip on his arm. It wasn’t until they were greeted by a thin elf with a very strained expression that Bilbo let go, looking around at all the different decorations around him. Amazed, he was, and continued to be even after Bofur pulled him back to protect him as more elves came riding toward them - the dwarves assumed they were being attacked. Dwalin made sure Ori stayed close, and Bofur allowed himself to look over his shoulder for a second to see where Nori was, finding him firmly planted on the other side of Dwalin, hissing at the elves as if he were a cat.

“ _Elves_ ,” Bofur’s cousin growled beside him.

Most of them were struck with different versions of confused when one of the ‘pointy eared bastards’ (as Gloin muttered) got off his high horse (literally) and invited them to dinner. Food was something they would not turn down, and Bilbo cooed happily at the chance of getting some rest as well. The lot of them got a room to share, big enough for all of them to lay their bedrolls on the floor, and Bofur was tempted to so at this point. However, dinner had not yet been served, and it was impolite to not have dinner when it was offered to them.

Politeness apparently did not matter once dinner was served, considering it was mainly vegetables, and this caused a bit of a stir among the dwarves - the only one who was actually enjoying the food was Bifur. Although he was enjoying the flowers put there for decoration more, removing them from the vase on the table in order to eat them.

“Where’s the meat?” Dwalin grumbled, completely shocked he even had to ask something like this.

Urged by their cousin, Bofur and Bombur began to slowly gnaw at the many different vegetables, Bombur eating more than normal to make up for the lack in nutrition - he was so hungry he didn’t even care about the taste. Nori complained for a bit but eventually ate some, mostly because Dori demanded he had to set a good example for Ori. Gloin and Oin mostly poked at the food as though they thought it would turn edible if the did it long enough.

After a long and exhausting day, filled with almost-dying, running and horrible food, Bofur could barely wait to get some sleep, and when the laughter and chatting in their room began to die down, he crawled into his bedroll. He nearly passed out on the spot, but then he felt movement to his left; someone pulling a bedroll closer before settling not even an inch away from the toymaker.

“Thought you could take back your offer, did you?” Nori breathed as quietly as he could - at this point, most everyone were asleep, or trying to sleep, otherwise the thief would’ve stayed away.

Bofur merely shifted to face Nori, not even bothering to open his eyes. “Mhh, no...” he mumbled with a tired smile as he wrapped one arm around the dwarf by his side.

Nori sighed and pulled Bofur closer, his left hand entangled with the toymaker’s right. “I’m still just using you, if you were smart you’d roll away now.”

A small snort was the last sound Bofur made before he fell asleep, face buried against Nori’s neck. He dreamt of riches and food, tons and tons of it, surrounding him in Erebor. He dreamt of walking the halls in the Lonely Mountain after Smaug was gone, gold in his pocket no matter how much he spent. He dreamt of coming home after a long day, to find Nori waiting for him, a big grin on his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm having a very hard time stopping myself from uploading all the chapters at once!!!


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori slept through the night - without leaving Bofur's side - and then becomes the scariest big brother the company has seen.

At an early hour, Bofur could feel someone shaking his shoulder as if to wake him up. He pushed the hand away and returned to holding Nori, who was still sleeping soundly by his side. Breathing in the thief’s scent, he suddenly realized that he was in fact still by Bofur’s side - he had not left during the night, which was what Bofur had expected him to do, not wanting to let the princelings find out. Nonetheless, the toymaker continued to lay on his bedroll with his eyes closed, listening to the heavy breathing beside him, until his shoulder was shook again, far more roughly this time. And this time, the thief woke up from the shaking as well.

“What?” was the first thing Nori mumbled.

Bifur hovered over them. “ _We’re leaving_.”

He said nothing about Nori, he did not ask why Nori was there, and he did not tell Nori to go. All Bifur did after this was help his cousin up, and then he left to pack his things. Bofur was not sure whether he should be thankful for it, but judging by Nori’s shameful expression as he packed his own bedroll into a bag, the thief was at least grateful.

“I’m sorry,” Bofur mumbled.

The other did not look at him, but he raised a thick eyebrow. “What for?”

A shrug was the only response the toymaker could think of before he begun packing his own things. Somewhere in a corner, Thorin gently tried to wake Bilbo up, and the hobbit did not enjoy being woken up so early - the sun wasn’t even up yet. It did not take long before the Company were heading out, silently, as to not wake any elves or alert them in any way. Once every ten minutes, Bilbo would turn back to look at Rivendell, such a beautiful sight in the sunrise, and every time he did, Thorin would stop as well. When the home of the elves was finally out of sight, the king sighed of relief, mumbling that they could finally get some walking done. And walked they did, until nightfall, until the king decided it was time to rest. He demonstrated this by stopping, turning, and sitting down on a tree stump.

“We will rest for the night,” he said.

Once Bombur had begun cooking - with help from Ori and Bifur - the rest of the Company begun to sit down around the fire, some of them taking a quick look through the woods to ensure it was safe. Bofur noted that Dwalin simply sat still, head resting in his hands, glancing toward the food with a very, very small smile playing on his lips. No, not the food, he was glancing toward Ori. Nori noticed this as well, just as he had noticed Dwalin sitting next to the young scribe, and riding side by side with him, and attempting to teach the young dwarf how to properly use axes in battle.

Very calmly, Nori walked up to Dwalin and sat down beside him. He then, very calmly and silently, hissed out threats between his teeth - “if you touch my little brother I will cut off your hands while you sleep” - with a smile, looking the mighty warrior in the eye while doing so. Dwalin’s eyebrows knitted together in a questioning look, eyes betraying him to show a small amount of fear. Nori then (very discreetly) flashed the blade he kept hidden on his right wrist, and gave the larger dwarf a stern look.

“Stay away from him.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't help it people, I love it when Nori is portrayed as the big brother who tries to kick Dwalin's ass because he's scared Dwalin will hurt Ori!
> 
> Next up is the (or a) dirty chapter~


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nori gets what he wants, and Bofur does not (but likes it anyways).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got home early, why not upload the next chapter? This was by far my favorite one to write (so far - I have not finished writing it yet, obviously) even though I felt terribly awkward doing so. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the chapter, feel free to leave a comment!

“I will kill him. If he hurts my brother, I will kill him,” Nori grumbled as he stomped around in the woods.

Bofur picked up a few sticks here and there, gathering wood for the fire, listening patiently as his thief spoke - it was as though he had changed in the past few days. Suddenly, he did not object to ‘relations’ with Bofur, as long as they were kept relatively secret. He did not object to sleeping next to each other, as long as they slept furthest away from the fire, away from the others. He could occasionally even manage a kiss, a hungry one with teeth and tongue, but did not let it go further.

“Perhaps Ori’s his One,” the toymaker said without thinking, merely letting his mouth express his thoughts.

Nori turned around on the spot without a seconds hesitation. “What did you say?” he growled.

“What if Dwalin is Ori’s One too? Would you stop them from being together?”

“Ori does not belong with Dwalin! Dwalin will not touch Ori if he wants to keep all of his body parts,” the thief hissed, stepping toward Bofur as if the behatted dwarf was the one he was angry with. “Dwalin does not want love, he wants sex. Ori does not deserve to be used, he deserves to be loved.”

“I understand that,” the toymaker sighed with a smile - Oh how passionate Nori was about protecting his little brother - “but if Dwalin belongs with Ori and Ori belongs with Dwalin, you can’t stop them. You need to let Ori be with his One. Even if you don’t like it, love will find a way.”

Nori looked terribly unimpressed.

"Just look at us." Bofur grinned, knowing he was pushing his luck.

Nori crossed his arms. "...you're not my One, don't be ridiculous."

"What am I then?" The toymaker was whispering, head tilted and eyebrows high, but his smile still in a sad frown..

The response was slow and doubtful, his thief struggling to find the right words. "You're...Bofur. You're a kind toymaker who likes smoking his pipe and singing and eating. You're a dwarf with a big heart and an equally big mouth that says things without your permission. You also have a pretty decent behind, but you are not my One, and I'm only using you for...physical contact."

Bofur's grin returned. "Of course I'm yer One, ye just don’t know it - or don’t want to admit it. And ye think I have a nice behind, that’s a good start.”

Mischievous grin spreading on his face, the other dwarf moved closer. In one swift movement, all the sticks Bofur had collected were on the ground, and in one more, Bofur found himself pinned to a tree - this felt familiar. Perhaps it would have a better ending this time, Bofur mused as Nori hungrily kissed him, groping his arse with one hand and keeping the other against the tree. The toymaker could not help but grin into the kiss, nibbling a tad at the other’s lip, asking for tongue. He opened his own mouth in a quiet moan, and Nori took the hint. Bofur felt all thoughts slip away as he shakingly reached down, daring to palm the thief's manhood through his trousers. Nori pulled away, and Bofur wondered briefly if he would get slammed into the tree like last time - instead, he saw a wide grin flash before him, followed by Nori biting at his neck, quite possibly making marks.

“Oh, they’ll see that, Nori,” he groaned, not really caring, but knowing the other one would once they were done.

“Let them.”

They both knew Nori would regret saying that if someone actually did see it, but neither of them tried to stop the marks from spreading along Bofur’s collarbones. That is, until Nori pulled back again, Bofur’s hand having made it’s way into Nori’s trousers where he was now stroking the growing erection he had found.

“I think it’s time for you to use that mouth for something other than talking,” Nori breathed into the ear of the poor shaking toymaker before him.

Dizzy, but well aware of what that meant, Bofur dropped to his knees as Nori pulled down his trousers. Eager to bring pleasure to the half-naked dwarf in front of him, Bofur gave the tip a soft kiss, hearing a slight gasp escape from Nori. It didn’t take long before he opened his mouth a bit more, keeping a steady grip of the base as he took it in, as far as he could, and then begun slowly moving his head back and forth, lips hugging Nori’s cock tightly. He only vaguely noticed when Nori pushed his hat off to get a tight grip of his hair.

“Imagine if someone was to see us,” the thief whispered sharply.

Nori himself thought his own moans were too loud, his breathing too noisy, but Bofur didn’t even notice - the adrenaline running through him made his heart beat so loud he couldn’t hear Nori’s moans, and he only barely heard what Nori had whispered to him. The thought of someone finding him on his knees like this, so eagerly pleasuring someone, groaning as he took the manhood of another dwarf deep into his mouth completely without shame; he blushed deeply, but there was something exciting about the whole thing, that they could be caught at any moment. Nori’s grip of Bofur’s hair tightened a bit as he finished with a thrust, and the toymaker obediently swallowed everything.

The thief could not take his glazed stare off him for a second as he pulled his trousers up and redid the lacing. “That was...interesting...”

“Indeed?” Bofur managed between quick breaths.

With a smirk, Nori knelt down to Bofur’s level. “In case you happen to want something...different next time, I nicked a bottle of oil from the elves.”

“Oh.”

At this, Nori begun to pick up the sticks Bofur had dropped on the ground. Despite a burning erection still growing in Bofur’s own trousers, he slowly got up as well, trying his best to regain enough thought that he could think of more unappealing things than what just happened, hoping he could get rid of the feeling growing in his groin by doing so.


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here there be nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I'm easily encouraged to show others what I've written, I'm now uploading yet ANOTHER chapter.

Bofur found that he could not sleep, despite being more exhausted than he had been for the past months. He could not fall asleep, and he was not quite sure why, but he got the feeling it had something to do with the dwarf sleeping soundly next to him. Him, and what they had done in the woods not more than five hours ago. Bofur had certainly enjoyed it, but he had not had the time to finish himself off, and had been forced to wander the woods for almost half an hour before his boner had decided to go away, finally accepting that it would not get any attention that night.

"Bofur..." Nori mumbled.

A deep breath. "I'm here."

The thief shifted beside Bofur. "No...not Bofur...no..." he mumbled slowly. "Leave him be..."

The toymaker sat up to get a good look at Nori's face - he was still asleep! A warm smile spreading on Bofur’s face, he laid down again and gently put a hand on Nori’s chest. He knew for a fact that Nori was a very light sleeper most nights, and this was his attempt to wake the thief without letting him know Bofur himself was awake. The sound - and movement - of a sharp breath let Bofur know he had been right in his assumption, as he kept his eyes closed.

Nori was breathing fast, trying to catch his breath as if he had been running, and that was exactly what he’d been doing in his nightmare; he had been trying to save Bofur, who had been bleeding, he was being tortured. In the dream, he didn’t look Nori in the eye as the thief cried out his name in vain, and Nori woke up the second Bofur hit the ground, his face drained of all blood and his eyes distant and empty. The horrifying feeling of losing the toymaker (even though it had only been a dream) would later haunt him throughout the day. He felt sick.

“Bofur,” he whispered.

No answer.

“Bofur...”

Nori wrapped both arms around the dwarf beside him, pulling him as close as he could and resting his forehead against Bofur’s collarbones, suddenly feeling so small. Bofur tried to breathe slowly and deeply, as if he was asleep, but he could not bear to trick his thief much longer.

“Mhh,” was the small noise he let out, shifting a bit to rub circles on Nori’s back. “I’m here.”

The other sighed, and soon they both begun drifting off to sleep. The whole Company - save for Bilbo, who was keeping watch, and Thorin, who didn’t quite trust that Bilbo could stay awake - slept soundly, all of them lucky that Nori had decided to go back to sleep. Had he not, he would soon have noticed that his younger brother was not in his own bedroll. Ori was currently dozing peacefully with his head resting on Dwalin’s chest, in Dwalin’s bedroll, with Dwalin’s coat wrapped around him.

The scribe was not entirely aware that he was not in his own bedroll, for he had fallen asleep by the fire, long after his brothers had gone to sleep, already wrapped in Dwalin’s coat. The warrior had attempted to wake Ori and lead the young dwarf to his own bedroll, but he didn’t let go when Dwalin did. He had followed Dwalin to the other side of camp - half asleep at this point - and silently laid down next to the older dwarf. The latter let him stay, but would feel guilty and horrified when he later woke up to remember Nori’s threats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I didn't want to spell it out for you but notice how Nori has nightmares when he's been kind of a meanie to Bofur. That was actually not done on purpose, it just happened?)


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwalin feels the wrath of Nori, and Nori feels the (accidental) wrath of Ori.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I could not resist uploading another one before I go to bed - after some more writing I have a decent margin, after all. Sadly, this is where the fun ends, and the next chapter is where the terrible nonsense I've written over the past two days starts.
> 
> I hope that you will enjoy this story still, even after I ruin it with my desperate attempts to continue it!

Bofur woke up to silent chattering by the fire and a faint smell of food. He stretched out a bit to find he was alone in his bedroll, but it was still warm. Sitting up slowly, he put on his coat and scarf - the marks on his neck did not need to be seen by anyone - and then made his way to the fire, careful not to trip over the dwarves still sleeping. As he sat down on a log he was immediately greeted by a wooden bowl being shoved into his hands.

“Here,” Nori mumbled.

Bofur stared at his breakfast, baffled that Nori had bothered to get it for him. “Ah, I wondered where ye went.”

When he looked at Nori, who had taken a seat by his side, he noticed a red mark on his cheek, as if someone or something had hit him in the face.

“Went to take a piss...” He pointed to Dwalin - his nose was clearly broken, blood smeared across his face and still streaming out from his nose, Ori sitting by his side and attempting to wipe away the blood with a cloth - “then I did that. Then I got you breakfast.”

Bofur’s jaw dropped. “For the love of Mahal, why would ye do that!?”

“Because I found him sleeping with my little brother!”

“Sleeping, or...err, the other kind of sleeping with?” Bofur asked hesitantly, hoping Nori would know what he meant.

“Sleeping, of course, peacefully.” Nori shuddered at the thought of the other option. “Thank Aulë. But I told Dwalin to stay away from Ori - or else - and I meant it.”

“Oh,” the toymaker mumbled, and somewhere in the back of his mind he wondered what it would be like to have sex with Nori when he was angry.

Nori was silent, but kept nudging Bofur’s arm to get him to eat his breakfast. By the time half of it was eaten, Ori was still wiping the last of the blood from Dwalin’s face, the latter sitting still with a blank expression as he was taken care of. Only when Ori went to wake up Oin for help regarding the broken nose did Dwalin move, eyes following the young scribe as he ran off.

“Hey!” Nori shouted at Dwalin, getting his attention and then shaking his head. “Don’t.”

Bofur stopped eating as a question suddenly appeared in his head. “If ye don’t want him near yer brother, how come ye let Ori wipe the blood off him?”

“...I didn’t. I said no and tried to pull Ori away, that’s when he elbowed me in the face,” Nori mumbled, pointing to the mark on his cheek.

“Wait, Ori? Sweet, kind little Ori? Ori, who follows his older brothers around and knits and writes?” The toymaker could swear that this quest was the most confusing thing he had ever experienced.

Nori’s face turned a bright pink color. “It was an accident. He apologized at least ten times before helping Dwalin.”

His confused expression turning into a kind smile, Bofur leaned closer. “Want me to kiss to make it better?”

“Not here, Dwalin is staring!” Nori hissed as silently as he could.

Bofur chuckled and continued to eat as the rest of the Company begun to wake up. Thorin’s predictions about Bilbo falling asleep had been true, they realized, when they found the hobbit curled up and sleeping by the tree where he’d decided to keep watch - however, Thorin had overestimated himself, for he was found alongside their burglar, his head resting on Bilbo’s shoulder. Fili and Kili (having found out what happened to Dwalin, but luckily not why) mentioned it was a shame that Ori had wiped the blood off Dwalin, otherwise they could have sent the warrior to give Bilbo and their uncle an interesting wake up call.

“Today we will go up into the mountains,” Thorin said once he was done yelling at Bilbo for falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do leave a comment, tell me what you think or anything really. I love waking up to find new comments to read and respond to!


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The canon timeline makes yet another appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I must say, waking up to all those lovely comments cancelled out the nightmare I woke up from!  
> To those who don't keep track of my responses to other people's comments: I assure you, Fili and Kili are not forgotten. They are just...tied to their duty and all that, having to hang out with the king.  
> I can also assure you that Nori is, in fact, terrified.

As the Company of Thorin Oakenshield made their way up in the mountains, they were met by rain and thunder and a very very narrow path (one that Fili, Bilbo and Ori all slipped on and nearly fell off at least once each). They had to slow down because Thorin and Balin both agreed it was too dangerous to walk fast, but they stopped completely when a large rock - or a small mountain - came flying toward the cliff where they stood.

“This is no thunderstorm!” Balin shouted, pointing toward the mountain ahead of them.

The moving mountain, that was currently picking up another rock.

“Well bless me! The legends are true.” Bofur stepped forward to get a better look. “Giants! Stone giants!”

The mountain shook behind them, rocks sliding down at them. Bofur heard a distant shout from Thorin before one of the heirs grabbed him and pushed him against the wall of stone behind them, trying to avoid getting hit by any of the rocks falling at them from above. By the toymakers side he felt Bilbo shiver in sheer panic, and on the other side of the hobbit stood Dwalin, pressing Bilbo and Ori back with one hand each.

The horror only got worse when the mountain split between Fili and Kili; they were standing on one of the stone giants, roughly half the Company on each leg. As the giant tried to get up, he was punched by another giant, and the leg that Bofur was not on hit the mountain that was actually a mountain, and not another giant. They jumped onto the path as the stone giant attempted to stand up once more, this time taking a few steps. Clinging on to the rocks, Bofur felt terrified and a little bit seasick as the giant was again damaged, this time his other leg coming toward the mountain. Bofur, Bilbo and Ori screamed as loud as they could in fear as the leg collided with the rock before them.

Witnessing all of this, Nori felt as though he was about to fall apart. He was certain Ori and Bofur both were dead by the time they hit the wall. Only when Thorin shouted something - he had hurried to where half the company hit the mountain with incredible speed, worried for his nephew - did Nori regained his ability to move, hurrying toward the shouting, to find that the toymaker and the scribe were both well (as well as they could be after something like that).

“Where’s Bilbo?” Bofur shouted almost immediately.

Hanging from the side of the cliff, appeared to be the answer, as both Ori and Bofur dived toward the edge to help the hobbit. Thorin did a much better job at helping, swinging himself off the edge and pulling Bilbo up, only to need help himself.

“Thank Aulë Dwalin was here,” Kili mumbled once his uncle was safe and sound.

Having found a small cave, the king told them to get some sleep. Bofur was about to say that he certainly needed it when he got the task of keeping watch. Sighing and sitting down, almost by the entrance, he looked on while Dori asked Ori over and over if he was alright while Nori pulled all three of their bedrolls closer, Ori’s being in the middle. Bofur couldn’t tell if this was Nori caring for his brother(s), or if this was Nori making sure his younger brother stayed away from Dwalin. Bilbo sat down against a wall, and it didn’t take long before Thorin walked over, preparing his bedroll next to the hobbit. At this, Bilbo stood up again and went somewhere else - he assumed he had been in Thorin’s way. Dwalin settled not far from their king, shooting glares toward Nori as he laid down. The cave was in silence, and Bofur considered dozing off on purpose. Who would possibly attack them in a cave up in the mountains, in the middle of the night?

It seemed Bofur did not have to watch for attacks, but rather hobbits trying to leave. “Where do ye think yer going?”

Bilbo turned around with a determined look in his eyes, one Bofur had never seen on the small hobbit. “Back to Rivendell.”

“No, no, ye can’t turn back now! Yer one of us,” Bofur whispered, feeling a bit hurt that Bilbo wanted to leave in the first place.

As Bofur heard the whispered explanation as to why their hobbit wanted to leave, how he didn’t belong there, he couldn’t help but feel panic spreading in him, but the very last sentence - one about dwarves being used to not belonging, and that is why they did not understand how the hobbit felt - Bofur was caught off guard. He desperately wanted their hobbit to stay, for what would they do if they arrived at Erebor and did not have a burglar?

But he simply could not find the words to convince Bilbo, and he whispered the only thing he could think of, managing as small smile. “I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do, my friend.”

As Bilbo turned to leave again, Bofur noticed something odd, something that glowed blue at the hobbit’s side. Then he found himself falling, as the ground opened up beneath his feet and swallowed the whole Company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Psst, as this chapter is basically me retelling the original story, I will upload another chapter within the hour as compensation. But as that chapter is also me retelling the original story...I miiiiight upload another one before noon. My noon, that is. European noon. And right now (as I'm uploading this) it's European 5 am, in case you're curious - like I said, nightmare.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Goblin King talks, and talks, and talks. His prisoners do not care.

Bofur landed face down, hitting his face in the process, but more importantly, he had landed beneath his brother. Nobody had time to get up before they were swarmed with goblins, pulling them up and pushing them along a narrow walkway, taking their weapons along. Most of the dwarves fought back immediately, pushing the goblins down from the walkway, but they were outnumbered. As his arms were restrained by several goblins, Nori considered biting them, but decided against it as it would be worse for him than it would for them.

“Get your hands off me!” Dwalin shouted as he was pushed around by almost a dozen of the goblins.

Regardless of how well they fought, every single one of them was eventually pushed along the path. Dori was practically glued to Ori until they were before the Goblin King - at this point he was pulled at and restrained by many small goblins curious about what he could possibly have in his pocket. Nori took his brother’s place by Ori as the Goblin King spoke, mockingly asking who would come into his kingdom. The sight of the Goblin King made them all a tad bit disgusted, and frankly, Nori felt he’d had enough of sickening things for one day; if one more thing would happen to flip his stomach, he would quite possibly vomit.

Bifur and Thorin were the only two who refused to look away from the large goblin, almost as if their glares alone would bring him down. Not even when they were being thoroughly searched - Oin having his ear trumpet taken away and stepped on, Ori clinging to the satchel containing his book in hopes he wouldn’t lose it, Nori and Fili getting touched in all sorts of wrong places once the goblins found the first of their many hidden blades - did Bifur or Thorin look away. Not even when the Goblin King decided to have them tortured did they look away.

“Start with the youngest,” were the words that made Dwalin flinch, Nori throw an arm out in front of his younger brother, and Ori to nearly faint.

“Wait!” Thorin stepped forward.

After many words from the Goblin King, most speaking of Azog the Defiler - a pale orc who had sworn to end the Line of Durin, meaning he was after Thorin - and torture, the goblins sang. Not a happy, merry song like the dwarves, or a solemn, calm song like the elves, but a song of how their bodies would never be found. From there, a goblin suddenly seemed to think it was time to inspect the weapons they had taken from the dwarves, and they recognized Thorin’s sword as Orcrist - the Goblincleaver. Then it escalated very quickly: Bofur felt a stinging pain in his back, the goblins whips striking down on them, and Thorin was tackled to the ground.

“Cut his head off!” the Goblin King shouted, not even a second before they were all blinded by a bright light.

It was Gandalf, he had come to save them! Suddenly there was an awful lot of weapons flying through the air, Bofur tossing them around, not caring who was given what weapon - as long as they had one. Ori got handed Dwalin’s warhammer, and while it looked comically oversized in the young dwarf’s hands, he wielded it as if it weighed almost nothing; carrying around many piles of thick books seemed to have done him well.

Looking around, Nori soon began clearing the path away from there. Gandalf ran ahead, urging them to follow him as they hacked and slashed their way through countless goblins. It was a massacre, until they were once again faced with the Goblin King and found the bridge they were standing on to fall down into the dark.

“Well that could’ve been worse,” Bofur said happily when they landed - uncomfortably, but safely enough.

This was followed by the Goblin King landing on the pile of dwarves and wood, which made it far worse. Dwalin and Kili struggled to get up, Kili alerting Gandalf - “more goblins!” - while Dwalin begun helping the others. Once Bofur had gotten out from under the Great Goblin, he allowed a wide smile to spread on his face as he saw Dwalin helping Nori stand up.

“There’s too many, we can’t fight them,” the bald warrior said, still on arm around Nori to keep him from falling.

Bofur helped Ori up, asking if he was hurt - “we don’t have time for this, Mister Bofur” - and then followed Gandalf as they ran for the exit. When the warmth of the sun hit Bofur’s face, he felt relieved, and suddenly realized how tired he was. Once they all stopped running (putting some distance between them and the goblins) Bofur sank down on his knees, using his mattock as support to not lay down completely on the grass. He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep sitting down when Gandalf started asking where Bilbo was.

“The hobbit is gone?” the toymaker shouted as he jumped up. “Did we lose him somewhere? Who saw him last?”

Dori mumbled, Thorin sighed deeply and Gandalf repeated Bofur’s last question until Nori spoke up.

“I, err, I think I saw him slip away.”

“He wasn’t there for the whole time we were taken by the goblins?” Bofur asked, feeling a sudden pang of guilt.

“Where could he be then?” Gloin grunted.

Thorin turned to his Company with a heavy heart. “Surely he is long gone by now. He is already back with the elves, where he wants to be. We will not be seeing our hobbit again...”

“Wrong,” said Bilbo as he jumped out from behind a tree.

The look on Thorin’s face was one Bilbo would never forget, for it spoke of guilt - he had assumed the hobbit would not return to them - and relief - he was alive after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sigh, yet another chapter of only canon things. The next chapter is something I think you'll enjoy far, FAR more (despite that I didn't write it very well) - that's right, Azog's about to kick Thorin's ass!


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is not A chapter, but THE chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to hold off and not post this chapter yet, I really did... I'm not patient enough! I mean, 38 full pages in Word right now and I write at least two pages a day at this point. I woke up at 3:30 AM this morning, no alarm or anything, and begun writing almost right away - by Aulë, this story is trying to kill me.
> 
> Psst, make sure you don't scroll down all the way to read the newest chapter and miss the ones before (like I do) - I update frequently, you could have missed a chapter!

Dwalin searched his pockets desperately. He was looking for something, a piece of paper, and he could only pray it was not lost. He double checked. The piece of paper was nowhere to be found. The goblins took it, he figured, or they at least made it fall out of his pocket when they searched the Company.

“Something wrong, Mister Dwalin?” Ori said meekly from behind the large dwarf.

“Didn’t I tell yeh not to call me ‘mister’?” Dwalin snapped, far harsher than he had meant.

The scribe lowered his gaze, staring at his feet. “I’m...sorry.”

Dwalin shifted, hesitantly draping an arm over Ori’s shoulder. “No, lad, I didn’t mean that. I just...lost something, it’s not that important.” (It was.) “Are yeh alright? Do yeh have yer book still?”

Ori smiled proudly. “Yes, and my quill, and my yarn, and even my knitting needles, look.” He held them up for Dwalin to see.

Dwalin chuckled a bit, glad to see the young scribe had not been hurt, and that he was his usual cheery self despite what the Company had just escaped from. Nori however, kept shooting glares at the warrior by his brothers side, until Dori separated Dwalin and Ori in order to hug his youngest brother (very hard) and ask him at least a hundred times if he was hurt. At this, Nori turned his head a bit to find Bofur grinning toward him.

“I think ye like me,” he said.

Nori returned the grin, but very strained. “No, no, I like to **use** you. Note that there’s a difference.”

The toymaker snorted. “Sure ye do. But I also think yer in love with me. I mean, tell me ye wouldn’t be jealous if I was to be with, say, Fili instead. Ye wouldn’t let me go, admit it.”

Nori glared.

Bofur took this as a victory, grinning even wider. “Yer not denying it.”

As it just so happened, this was when they begun to hear howling. Nori flinched, Thorin swore under his breath. The Company must be cursed, Dori thought as they were attacked by wargs. Naturally, those wargs were not alone, but were soon joined by more of their kind.

“Climb up into the trees,” someone shouted, and the dwarves did as they were told.

Last of all, Bilbo scrambled up into a tree, just barely escaping a warg who seemed to have his mind set to getting a bite out of the hobbit. Clawing and biting and jumping against the trees made them fall over, one by one, causing all the dwarves to have to jump to the next until they were at the very last tree, on the edge of the cliff. The wargs were not alone. Soon after the first had arrived, a few warg-riders - orcs - appeared, and among them was a pale one, larger than the others, scars covering his face.

“Azog,” Thorin mumbled under his breath, recognizing his old enemy.

No matter how much Thorin wanted to, thirteen dwarves, a hobbit and a wizard could not possibly take down as many orcs and wargs as they now saw. Gandalf certainly tried, setting pine-cones on fire and throwing them at the wargs, but that ended with the tree starting to lean dangerously far down. In fact, it was about to fall off the cliff, and many of the dwarves were even closer to doing so. Ori in particular, who only barely caught Dori’s leg in time, saving himself from a terrible death.

Nori tried shuffling closer to his brothers, barely hanging on to the tree himself. “Ori, take my hand!”

Ori could not reach his brothers hand, and concentrated on holding on to Dori’s legs, praying silently that Dori’s boots were tightly tied around his feet.

“Thorin!” Dwalin shouted, as their king had gotten up, running toward Azog, only to get knocked to the ground.

Balin cried out as well, already feeling as empty inside as he knew he would if Thorin died, and Bofur was completely mortified where he hung from the pine. Once Bofur produced a new thought in his head, he paid no attention to what was going on by Thorin when Bilbo suddenly appeared, bravely fighting off the orcs with his letter opener, for he was too busy trying to reach Nori. Desperately clinging to the tree he moved along, further out, until he reached the thief. Bofur then got a solid grip of Nori’s wrist, only holding on to the tree with one arm.

“Nori!”

“I need to help my brothers!” he answered with a terror flashing in his eyes.

“Nori, look at me!” the toymaker snapped, truly believing they were about to die this time. “I...I love you.”

Nori was quiet for a moment, blushing a bit (though this was hard to see because of the dim light). “...I...love...you too.”

Bofur could feel how every single muscle in his body tried to turn into jelly, as the tree tipped a bit further and Ori and Dori fell. Nori cried out, letting go with one hand, and the tree tipped down even more. Bofur could absently feel his hands lose the grip of the tree when Nori’s did, but he did not let go of Nori. When they, along with every other member of the Company, were caught by a giant eagle, he could have screamed with joy. He was alive, Nori was alive, and he had gotten the confession his heart had so dearly wished for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nori's not so secretive when he's about to die.
> 
> Does this mean it's over? NO! Many chapters to come still, although they're absolute nonsense. 
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment about anything from "oh god Nori you silly baby" to suggestions about things to come - I'll at least take it into consideration!


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Carrock makes a quick appearance, and the lack of sleep is starting to show, and Dori is so done with this shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Must...pace...myself! Goodness, this is hard!

Thorin was quite possibly dead. Bofur would later feel very guilty and upset about the fact that he could not bring himself to care all that much. At least he managed to keep a neutral expression on his face as the eagles landed, letting the dwarves get down on a carrock. Turned out Bofur didn’t have to feel sad, because Thorin soon sprung up from the ground and began ranting at Bilbo.

“What were you thinking? You could’ve gotten yourself killed!”

The hobbit did not deserve that, the whole Company thought - “Did I not say you had no place amongst us?” - but suddenly Thorin did something none of them had anticipated.

He said, “I have never been so wrong in all my life,” and wrapped his arms tightly around Bilbo.

Bofur’s face appeared to have stuck in that neutral expression he saved for Thorin’s death, but on the inside he was exploding with joy - this was simultaneously the best and worst day of his life. A hand on his shoulder got him to turn around, facing Nori (pale, a very strained smile on his thin lips), Bifur (cheering at the sight of Thorin hugging Bilbo) and Dori (looking as though he was very much done with everything concerning quests and dragons and gold). The look on Nori’s face had Bofur very worried. Was something wrong? Had he been hurt? As soon as the Company started shuffling along down the steps cut out in the rock - Thorin, still badly hurt from the meeting with Azog, did so leaning on Bilbo for support - Bofur’s face softened up into a worried frown.

“Nori, are ye alright?”

The thief was pale, and had to lean toward Bofur a little for support. “Yes, I’m fine. Perfectly fine.”

“Scared of heights?” Bofur asked - that was likely, as many dwarves found it best to keep their feet planted safely on the ground.

Nori shook his head, looking as though he would vomit. “No. Let’s go. I’m fine.”

With a raised eyebrow and one arm around Nori’s waist they made their way down to the ground, where Gandalf was already explaining how he knew of someone who could help them not far from there - however, it would still take a day or two to walk there, perhaps more, judging by the state of their king. For the exact reason that the king was injured, they stopped at the base of the carrock for a rest, giving Thorin a chance to clean up in the river not far from there. As he limped away with his arm around Bilbo’s neck, the hobbit locked back at the Company with a small frown, as if questioning what to do.

Nori, stubborn as always, would not sit down until the rest of the Company did. As they tried their best to gather food in the forest - for they had been relieved of almost all food when they were caught by goblins - Nori did his best to keep up. Bofur could only hold him up for so long though, and eventually, Nori’s legs gave away and he sat down on the ground with a muffled thump.

“Are ye sure yer alright? You look very pale...” Bofur brought his hand up to Nori’s face, touching his forehead as if checking for a fever.

Nori’s eyes were closed, but he brought his own hand up to Bofur’s, only to grab it gently and steer it away from his face. “Mhm, I’m fine...”

“No, yer definitely not. I’ll get Oin, he’ll fix ye up.”

As the toymaker stood up to leave, Nori moved his hand to grab Bofur’s leg weakly. “Don’t go. Stay.”

“Yer starting to sound like me,” Bofur mumbled with a kind smile and sat back down.

The two sat like that for a long time, Bofur frowning and wondering what could possibly be wrong, and Nori wanting to say something but not a sound would leave his throat when he tried. Eventually, the thief shifted and laid down, his head in Bofur’s lap, and fell asleep. As the dwarf in his lap curled up a little against him, Bofur noted how heavy his own eyelids felt and he drifted off to sleep as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nori doesn't seem to notice how suspicious it sounds to repeat "I'm fine" when you look like you're about to faint.
> 
> From now on, it's all fillers and crack, baby. All fillers and crack.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thorin needs some help bathing, Nori needs some help waking up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mahal, I haven't even felt the need to upload a chapter for hours now! I've been so busy trying to fill up on chapters that I didn't even think about updating~
> 
> Oh, also, yay for 2000 hits!

Thorin sighed in relief as the hobbit helped him undress and get into the water. The water was cool against his skin, but he felt the warmth spread as he noticed Bilbo undress as well.

The hobbit was not blind. “ **Someone** has to help you clean your wounds. Besides, I could use a bath too,” he mumbled.

The king could not help but stare as the hobbit’s shirt came off, revealing a pudgy middle and a chest with hair as soft as that on his feet, and then when his pants followed the shirt, exposing a round bottom. The king did not care that his burglar’s face was turning red, as the latter understood that Thorin could not take his eyes off him. His gaze met Bilbo’s, and he maintained the eye contact as the hobbit waded into the water and stood before the king. A soft smile on his lips, the king leaned forward, his hands grasping Bilbo’s own, and planted a gentle kiss on the hobbit’s lips.

“Oh,” was all the hobbit could say, before the king leaned in again.

Past the woods by the river, across the camp, and in the next forest, it was Dori who found them - Nori and Bofur, that is - sleeping, leaned against a tree. The nerve those two had, to be sleeping while the rest of the Company was out gathering food! Dori begun by smacking his brother in the face, as to wake him up (he did not plan ahead for how to wake Bofur, as he found it improper to smack him as well).

“What was that for?” Nori shouted immediately, shooting up from his spot in the blink of an eye.

This startled poor sleeping Bofur, who woke up in shock, his head flying back to hit the tree. Bofur was at least happy to see that his One was no longer pale and about to pass out; at this point, Nori had started poking his older brother in an attempt to make him go away.

“You’re here sleeping while the rest of us are gathering food!” Dori complained.

“Yes, yes, I know. Blame me. You can go now,” Nori growled.

Dori would have snickered, had he not been so annoyed at his brother already, as he turned his heel and left. Nori held out his hand toward Bofur, offering to help him get up.

“Ye certainly seem to be feelin’ better,” Bofur said with cheer as he took the thief’s offered hand.

Nori said nothing, but continued to hold Bofur’s hand as they made their way back to the camp, at which point he let go. Bofur thought little of it, as he already knew Nori’s heart belonged to him, and yawned a bit as they sat down by the others. Nori helped himself to a small bowl of food - it was a wonder the bowls and pots had survived the goblins - and then proceeded to get one for the toymaker as well.

“Now where have you two been?” Bombur said - he had barely noticed his brother had been gone, for he had been so busy thinking of cooking.

“I found them sleeping under a tree.” Dori then mumbled about something about them being terribly lazy and irresponsible’.

Dwalin grinned from behind his own bowl of food. “Right. Sleeping.”

This was where Bofur was once again a tad confused, because he was certain Nori had hated Dwalin just a few days before; Nori gave the older warrior a playful push and if Bofur’s eyes did not betray him there was also a small smirk playing on Nori’s lips. He did not even seem to react to the fact that Ori sat curled up next to Dwalin. Bofur wondered what exactly he had missed, and repeated in his mind that this quest was the most confusing he had ever been on. Also the only quest he had ever been on, but that hardly mattered.

Somewhere at the back of Nori’s mind he was very happy that the heirs of the throne were still out searching for more rabbits Kili could shoot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Nori, what are you up to now...?


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts from cousins and brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I'm going to have to slow down a bit on the updating, this is going a bit too fast and I'm rushing to finish chapters just to have a bit of a buffer! 
> 
> Also, filler. Wohoo.

Bifur would not say that he was against his cousin’s love for the thief. He would rather have used the words “on his guard”, considering this thief was also a liar and a cheater, and quite possibly bordering on assassin. Bifur was no fool, he knew what it was to love someone unconditionally, because that was the curse of the dwarves: once they found their One, it did not matter who they were. They did not have to be of the opposite gender, or the same race. A dwarf who had found his One would forever be a half of a whole. Ever watchful, Bifur had seen the exact moment when Bofur felt that love snare him - he had then turned to look at Nori, to see if the thief had been struck by love as well, but found that Nori had been singing loudly and burping and spilling his ale instead (this was back in Ered Luin, before the quest, and it just so happened that it was the very night that Bofur got terribly drunk, found Thorin Oakenshield and demanded to join his quest for Erebor).

Since that, Bifur did what he could to make things easier for his cousin, out of fear that Bofur would have to be alone until the end of his days purely because Nori would not have him. Bifur kept the king’s nephews away (naturally, he had noticed the way they stared at his cousin - Bofur was not Fili’s One, nor was he Kili’s, Bifur had concluded, but they were still young and confused temporary attraction or admiration with The Love), he gave advice, and even purposefully pushed Bofur into Nori several times to get some type of reaction, but Nori never looked at Bofur the way Bofur looked at Nori.

Until they were hanging from a tree in the light of a fire, about to fall to their deaths off a cliff.

"Food?" Bombur nudged his cousin, causing Bifur to snap out of his thoughts.

Bifur grunted, smiled a little bit and pointed to Nori.

"...what are you trying to say?"

He then pointed to Bofur. “ _True love_.”

Bombur smiled widely and agreed - even Bombur could see it, at least now, once he’d had Bofur’s odd behaviour explained to him by Bifur, who could read his cousin like an open book (so to speak - reading an actual book was far harder to Bifur). Bombur’s heart was warmed when he saw the genuine smile on Bofur’s face as he laughed at something Nori said.

Dori knew that Nori was smart. Maybe not book-smart, like Ori, but was certainly not stupid. Had Nori been stupid, he would not have found new ways to break out of jail after he got caught. But had Nori been smarter, he would not have ended up in jail to begin with. Dori - the eternal pessimist - always assumed the things Nori brought home were stolen. Ori knew better, because he had once gotten upset knowing that Nori gave him stolen goods, and had then made Nori pay for everything he was to bring them.

Nori’s brothers always knew how to play him, how to make him do exactly what they wanted him to; Ori had figured this out, Dori had not. Even though the thief had his fair share of arguments with his older brother, he would always be there if Dori asked him to. His brothers were his everything, all he had left. They were the only treasures he had been able to save when Erebor was taken by Smaug.

Dori knew that Nori was smart, and this was why the thief - metaphorically - avoided playing with fire, because he knew he could get burned.

But what Dori didn’t know was that Nori had learned something. He had learned that fire was not there to play with, but to care for, to keep the flame from going out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Psst just a reminder that even if Ori's age is "slightly" changed in the movie into him being the youngest, Erebor was lost 60 years before the quest, and I like to think Ori is somewhere between 60 and 80. So yeah, they were there when Smaug THE TERRIBLE took the mountain.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwalin is one of the bravest warriors in a battle, but he shudders at the thought of speaking to Ori's brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, I must say, I've been stressing out to make sure I have a bit of a buffer zone - a few chapters between this one and the one I'm currently writing - because that's how I like it, but stress is all over, and not only from writing...

Dwalin fumbled a bit with the piece of paper. He had lost the one he had written before, and had now made a new one. To think that a great warrior like himself could be scared of something like this. As he asked Nori and Dori if he could speak to the two of them privately, he felt his mind go blank. Good thing he had written that note!

Dori asked first. “What’s this about?”

“I- err, I-” was what they heard - ‘stop being such a bloody coward!’ was what Dwalin told himself. “I wish to...to court your brother-”

Dori laughed sarcastically. “Ori? Not Ori, no, no, Ori’s still a baby, he doesn’t need a...a...you, he needs his older brothers!” he said, gesturing first to Dwalin, and then to himself and Nori.

Dwalin did exactly what he promised himself he would not: he lost his temper (if only a bit). “Now listen here! I’m a great warrior and a noble, I’ve fought more people and creatures than you can count, and-” He stopped, cleared his throat and looked at the piece of paper again. “I mean...I would take good care of Ori and....err, I will make sure he’s always safe...”

“No thank you, we can take good care of our own brother,” Dori said, lips pressed tightly and eyebrows knitted together angrily.

Nori stood still, arms crossed, eyes not entirely present as his brother continued his silent protest and Dwalin continued to read from the paper (in hopes of convincing at least Nori). He certainly was not thinking about Dwalin and Ori. Why would he, when he had managed to tell Bofur the only thing he did not want to admit - that he loved him - and he wanted to take it back, to undo it, but how could he? It was already said.

“Nori?” Dwalin wondered why the thief hadn’t said anything yet.

“Hm?” He looked at Dwalin, then at Dori, and then at Dwalin again. “Oh, Ori. Sure thing, treat him well or I’ll knock your teeth out and all that.”

Dori, who had - when Nori had started to speak - taken on a very smug expression, mentally saying ‘ha! Nori’s going to say no as well, then you’re screwed’ as he glared at Dwalin, was in complete shock. His jaw dropped and he stared at Nori, not believing what he just heard. Was this a joke?

Dwalin wondered the same. “Is this a joke?”

“‘Course not,” Nori said with an insulted expression on his face. “...did you actually write down what to say to us?”

“...maybe,” Dwalin mumbled.

The thief the laughed, patted Dwalin on the shoulder and left the warrior with the shocked dwarf beside him. Dori was having a very hard time pulling himself together, and in his attempt to say something he became sarcastic, screaming out to no one in particular.

“Oh yes, brilliant, let’s all just be best friends and hit on each other’s brothers! For the love of Mahal, am I the only sane one here?” he cried.

Dwalin held out the note he had written to Dori, for him to read and reconsider, and then the warrior walked away as well. Left was poor Dori, who could only throw his arms up in despair as Dwalin took his place by Ori, and Nori once more drifted into his thoughts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanon time: I do believe that it is dwarven custom to ask the other's family for approval before/at the beginning of courting them. I also believe that this is merely for show, a tradition, partially to make it official that they're interested - if a dwarf has found his (or her) One, they will not care for the answer. However, asking someone's family beforehand only to get turned down by the object of their affections can happen, and it is best to first make sure they are interested.
> 
> And since dwarven women are in short supply, it's not uncommon for men to marry. Dwarves love whoever they love, gender and race does not matter. Now, hobbits are a bit more touchy on that subject, and as they don't have "the curse of the dwarves" (a.k.a hobbits don't know that their "One" is their One, and they can love two people equally unlike the dwarves) the norm is to marry a hobbit lass.
> 
> I'm sorry for pushing my headcanons onto you, but I want to explain my angle here!


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bofur wants to have a chat with Thorin's nephews, or at least one of them, and learns that you have to be careful what you wish for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stress is taking it's toll, and making updates far more difficult for me. I have two specific chapters (with an extra chapter in between) I want to upload for Valentine's, but we'll see what happens.

Nori had been very unsure how to deal with Bofur ever since he admitted to loving him, nor did he know what to do about the princelings. They were now only a days march from Gandalf’s friends house, and he still pulled his hand away from Bofur whenever the king’s nephews were near - it was a miracle they had not discovered it yet, considering that Nori always slept next to Bofur now, ever since Rivendell. Despite this, he hardly even knew how to speak to Bofur anymore.

“Nori?” the toymaker got a hold of the thief’s hand. “What are ye thinking about?”

“Nothing. I mean, you.”

Bofur tilted his head a little. “Now that’s a lie.”

Letting go of Bofur’s hand, Nori bit his lip a little. “Fili and Kili.”

Bofur had noticed that Nori had been a bit distant for the past few days, but he had not thought much of it. Now that Nori admitted to being concerned about the princelings, Bofur started sharing the guilt his One felt. The princelings did not know, they had not figured it out yet, they could both tell by the look in Fili’s eyes as he glanced over during supper, and the way Kili would still make excuses - “you have a leaf in your hair, Mister Bofur. Let me get it for you” - to touch the toymaker.

“Aye, we should probably deal with them...”

Nori nodded, eyebrows knitted together not in concern for Fili and Kili but something far more serious. Bofur silently decided to have a chat with at least one of the king’s nephews by the time the day ended. And it seemed Bofur got his wish, when - once they had finally stopped to rest for the night - Kili appeared to have him cornered, but how that was possible in a forest, Bofur did not know(it doesn’t even have corners!). Kili had, despite this, managed to corner him as he followed Bofur when he went out to take a piss, which Bofur found to be very disturbing.

“Mister Bofur,” the young archer had said.

Had Bofur not been in the middle of it already, he would now have pissed himself. “Aulë, lad, don’t sneak up on me like that!”

“Sorry,” Kili laughed, as he moved to the other side of Bofur, now glancing at him from the side.

Bofur blinked a few times and turned away from the prince. “Don’t look at me when I’m trying to take a piss, it’s making me uneasy. Please.”

“Sorry,” Kili said again, another laugh escaping him.

This was not how Bofur had imagined the part where he told the king’s nephew to lay off charm and leave him alone. As soon as he was finished, he tucked himself back into his trousers and turned to speak to Kili. Only, Kili was not there. A hand on Bofur’s shoulder told him that the archer was now behind him, once again, but as he turned to face Kili, the young dwarf happened to be a bit too close for Bofur’s liking.

“Err, hello there, Kili. Did ye...want to talk...about something?”

“Yes, yes of course I do, Mister Bofur,” Kili said happily as he slowly stepped closer, forcing the toymaker to take a step back.

“And what would that be, lad?” This was miles outside of Bofur’s comfort zone.

Kili took a deep breath. “I like you. A lot.”

The lad’s honesty and courage was truly inspiring, but this made things so very difficult for Bofur. The only person he had ever truly stood up to was at this point Nori, except that was not him standing up **to** someone, but rather standing for himself. Rejecting someone was a whole other story, and Bofur was not sure what to do with that story. He simply kept backing up as Kili continued to take steps toward him, until he was backed up against a tree. There was that familiar feeling of being cornered against a tree by another dwarf again, but this time he did not want the ending he had gotten last time. This time, he wanted the ending where nothing happened, ever, but as Kili slowly leaned in and out put one hand on the toymaker's thigh, Bofur found himself very concerned it would end differently.

"Lad, yer hand is on my thigh," he mumbled when Kili was no more than a breath away.

"Yes. Yes, it is." Kili leaned even closer, and closed his eyes.

“Kili, there’s someone else, I'm in love with someone else!” Bofur blurted out.

The young archer pulled back with a pout and stared at the toymaker before him. “...is it Fili? It’s Fili, isn’t it. I knew it, he’s the older brother, he always gets what he wants!”

Bofur could only sigh as he relaxed against the tree, but Kili did not go without response.

“Last I checked my name wasn’t Fili, so no.” Nori grinned widely behind the prince.

Nori shot Bofur a look, one eyebrow raised, but Bofur didn’t notice. He was still trying to think of a way to make this less hurtful for Kili, and having Nori get involved was likely not the way to do that. He reached out to the young prince - who was now sporting a very humiliated expression on his face - and put one hand on his shoulder.

“Yer still young, lad. There’s no rush to find the one yer supposed to be with - most don’t meet their One until they’re almost twice yer age,” he said with a reassuring smile.

Kili threw himself into Bofur’s arms, nearly sobbing, leaving Nori with another displeased frown. One prince down, one to go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why, but I like to think that Kili is the "act before thinking"-brother of the two, while Fili would be calmer, more reasonable. Hence Kili's very...hands-on approach to Bofur.


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Nori can't sleep and Ori goes for what he wants. (Alternatively: Dwalin doesn't want the D, part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It appears I'm starting to adopt Nori's sleeping habits (such as many many nightmares). So I got up at 4 am and responded to comments - ah all those lovely comments, I always love to wake up and see so many have left a comment, no matter how long! - and I'm now uploading yet another chapter for you to enjoy!
> 
> This is also the first of two Valentine's chapters I'm planning on having uploaded by the end of the day (it is currently the 14th here, yes) and I hope I will have the time to do so.

After concerning dreams about Thorin having Bofur beheaded - for hurting his nephew - Bofur woke up wrapped tightly in Nori’s cloak. Nori’s arms, holding him close, reinforced the tight wrapping. This was a problem, because Bofur could hardly breathe or move thanks to how closely pressed he was to Nori.

“Nori.”

The thief opened his eyes and blinked a few times before being able to focus his eyes on Bofur. “I wasn’t asleep,” he mumbled.

His eyes were unfocused and the shadows beneath them made Bofur wonder if his One had slept at all. Regardless, he couldn’t stay so tightly wrapped up any longer.

“Yer holding me a bit too tight,” he said softly. “I can’t breathe.”

“Mh, sorry,” Nori mumbled, removing one arm to rub his eyes.

The other arm stayed, but Bofur could still wriggle out of the cloak to take away some of the heat. He gently reached up to Nori’s face and kissed his temple equally gently.

“Sleep, you need it,” he whispered.

Nori tried to protest - Bofur could see it on his face - but ended up blinking rapidly to try to stay awake and then finally let his eyes close. In less than a minute, he was snoring lightly by the toymaker, and Bofur could only hope slept well and free from nightmares. Nori had acted so strangely for the past few days - though, Nori had always been a bit strange to Bofur, and the toymaker could never really figure the thief out.

Ori woke up in a place that very much resembled the one where Bofur had woken up, but the details were different. For one, the dwarf he had slept next to did not have the spicy smell of Ori’s older brother, but smelled more like iron, like all sorts of metals. Secondly, he was not held so tightly he could not breathe or move, but very gently, softly, as if Dwalin - even in his sleep - thought that little Ori was made out of glass.

“Dwalin?” Ori stretched a bit, yawning.

The older dwarf turned his head to face Ori, too tired to answer.

“Did you sleep well?” the scholar asked with a tired smile, shuffling closer to Dwalin.

He did not get a verbal answer this time either, but a nod, as Dwalin closed his eyes again. The warrior then felt a soft sensation on his own lips, and opened his eyes to find Ori had pressed his own to Dwalin’s. A big hand came up to bury itself in Ori’s hair, but he did not try to press the younger dwarf closer - Ori did that on his own. The scholar, inexperienced and insecure, purposefully let his mouth open a tiny bit, just enough for Dwalin to notice, but the older dwarf did nothing about it, he simply kept their lips pressed together for a while before pulling back.

“Yer one hell of a lad, but it’s early, and we’re not alone,” Dwalin whispered with a grin. “Wouldn’t want to upset yer brothers, would we?”

Ori wasn’t sure whether to blush in embarrassment or smile back at Dwalin, so he did both.

“Time to get up, we have to keep walking!” Gandalf announced.

Nori flew up from his spot by Bofur, startled by the old man’s shouting. “Bloody wizard...”


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fili is more trouble than he's worth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "middle-chapter" of my Valentine's...thing. As in, the last chapter was a fluffy Valentine's chapter, this chapter is a bit more NOT Valentine's Day, but the next one...OH BOY, the next chapter is THE Valentine's chapter!

When Gandalf told the dwarves to stop walking, they could not even see the house they were supposedly almost at. Nori couldn’t help but groan a little bit - he was so terribly tired but Gandalf demanded they would all stay hidden, and then come out - in pairs, with five minutes between each pair. Naturally, the hobbit went with Gandalf first. Bofur wondered if perhaps this was a good time to take Fili aside and have a few words with him.

“Bofur, you feelin’ alright?” the heir asked, having approached the toymaker whilst he was thinking.

“Uh, I need to talk to ye. Jus’...between four eyes, yes?” Bofur shot Nori a look as he finished talking, making sure Nori had heard him.

Fili smiled widely, a very charming smile, one that made Bofur a bit scared he’d hurt the lad. “Of course!”

As they stepped away from the rest of the Company, Thorin began shouting for Fili, but when Kili explained that Fili was busy, Thorin demanded Kili would go with him - naturally, the king and his kin would be second pair to go. Kili refused, and Thorin ended up leaving with Dori. It was decided that Nori and Ori would go next. Fili was reasonable and calm (traits he had been trained to have as the heir of the throne), he will take it well, Bofur figured.

“So, Fili, lad-”

“No need, Bofur, I know what you’re going to say,” Fili stated smugly, still with that charming smile.

“No, Fili, I don’t think ye do.” Bofur frowned - this was going to be harder than he had thought.

“I spoke to Kili, he told me that you turned him down because there was someone else.” Fili - unlike his brother - at least stood still on a safe distance while he spoke. “Now, that can’t be anyone else but me, and I can gladly tell you that I accept.” He finished his sentence by bowing, his braids nearly touching the ground at this.

“Accept what, exactly?”

Fili looked up and placed a hand on the toymaker’s shoulder. “Your courting, of course.”

Bofur blinked. “...courting- Fili, no, I’m not trying to court you, I’m trying to tell you that I’m not interested.”

Nori and Ori left the rest of the Company behind to find the house Gandalf had told them of. Fili raised both eyebrows in a surprised frown.

“I think you’re lying to both me and yourself when you say you’re not interested. I mean, I’m the prince, I’m a decent swordsman if I may say so myself, and I have dashing looks.” His smile returned.

“Yes, but...yer not my One.” Bofur tried to use his most soothing voice, as to not make Fili angry or sad - at this point it could go either way.

The younger one leaned in a little. “And how do you know that for sure? My mom told me that The Love can sometimes be hiding, waiting to come out when you least expect it, and you need to give it a chance!”

“Fili, yer very sweet, and I would have been honored to court ye, but I have already found my One,” Bofur said, speaking slowly as if explaining something to a child. “And...I believe my One has found me as well.”

Balin and Dwalin left, the older of them reminding Kili that their uncle would want them there as soon as possible. Bombur stood silently by Bifur’s side, as Bifur was trying to have a conversation with Oin - something about beards - and Gloin merely stood there, feeling incredibly stupid.

“Who?” the young heir asked after a short pause.

“Nori.” Bofur looked up with a restrained smile to look at his thief, forgetting Nori wasn’t there.

Fili’s expression then went from confusion to determination. “I would treat you better than he does - I saw what he did to Dwalin, I don’t doubt he could do the same to you! I will give you everything you ever wished for, you need only ask and I would climb to the very top of the highest mountain to-”

“Lad, did ye not hear what I just said? I have found my One, I’m bound to him forever.” Bofur felt his cheeks heat up a bit, slightly annoyed at the prince.

“But Bofur, maybe he’s not your One, maybe you just want to think he is! Give me a chance to win you over at least!”

Kili stomped the ground, annoyed that his brother suddenly thought this was the best time to strike up a long conversation with the behatted dwarf they had both fancied. “Fili! We have to go, like, **now**!”

Before Bofur could respond to the prince in front of him, said prince began to walk away. “This conversation is not over, my dear toymaker,” he added and looked over his shoulder as the charming smile appeared again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See? Kili's the baby of the two brothers, very emotional and all that, and Fili's the confident older brother, sassy and persistent.


	25. Chapter 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone wants the D except Dwalin. (Alternatively "Dwalin doesn't want the D, part 2")

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this would be THE Valentine's chapter I've mentioned! 
> 
> Sadly, I must warn you that I may not update much this weekend - I'm in the middle of moving, which I found out today, so I've been stressing around to pack all my things down in boxes. Then there's the fact that I've been unable to connect to the internet for the past hour, which makes me unable to write the story (as I save it on Google Drive, so I can access it on other computers), not to mention it makes me fear I may not be able to Skype with my long distance boyfriend ON VALENTINE'S! Outside of that I've also been waking up randomly at 4 am now and then for the past two weeks. This is turning into a problem. I'm about to hit a wall here.
> 
> Happy Valentine's though!

As soon as Bofur had arrived at Beorn’s home, introduced himself, and discreetly taken the seat by Nori’s side, Nori had whispered to him, asking how it went. Horribly, Bofur had answered, and this had concerned the thief - the princeling appeared so eager to win Bofur’s affections, and this meant Nori could not still be in the way. And yet, Bofur found himself pressed against the wall in the hayloft of a barn no more than fifteen minutes later (having “sneaked” away while Gandalf told Beorn of their quest so far, like many of the other dwarves, as they already knew the story), lips against Nori’s, as if they were the only two in the world.

Attempting a seductive whisper, Nori mumbled, “You know that oil I nicked? Still have it. Perhaps we should...use it.”

Their bodies were pressed closely together, and Bofur could feel his crotch heating up at the sound of Nori’s voice in his ear, as his hat slipped off from his head. Nori had him pinned, holding his wrists against the wall behind him, forcing him into submission as they grinded against each other. Every touch, every kiss, sent a shiver down Bofur’s spine - Nori was simply too good at this. Or, perhaps it was the fact that Nori was his One that made everything he did feel so much better.

“I...don’t...” Bofur begun, finding it so terribly hard to finish his sentence all of a sudden. “Yes.”

Nori slapped his hand over the toymaker’s mouth to hinder all the oh-so-lovely sounds he was making - the door on the level below was slowly opening, creaking loudly in the process. Nori stopped breathing completely, and listened carefully as two pairs of feet made their way inside, and then the door was closed. Slowly and as silently as possible, Nori laid down on the sturdy wooden planks, trying to see something through the small spaces between the them. As Bofur did the same, suddenly very curious, he found that he almost had to hold down his One to keep him from running down to the two dwarves who had just entered.

Almost directly beneath Nori and Bofur stood Ori and Dwalin, the latter pinned against the wall (although he could easily have pushed the scholar away had he not liked it) with their lips pressed tightly together. Nori wanted to look away, but found himself entirely paralyzed, as his younger brother tugged the warrior’s trousers a bit, as if trying to pull them down, still with his lips glued to Dwalin’s. The thief and the toymaker were then - unexpectedly - relieved to find that Dwalin swatted Ori’s fingers away when the scholar had tried to unlace the trousers he was already fighting so hard to remove.

“I- I thought you wanted this,” Ori mumbled softly, blushing.

Dwalin brought up his hand to gently tilt Ori’s chin up. “Of course, my scribe, but not here, and not now.” A gentle kiss. “Yer brothers don’t seem to trust-”

Ori cut him off in the middle of the sentence. “I don’t care, what they don’t know can’t hurt them. I- I want this.” A brief pause. “...sir.”

“Don’t yeh ‘sir’ me, lad. Trust me when I say I would love to just push yeh down and take yeh right here,” Dwalin growled a little at the thought of this, “but a stranger's barn is hardly the right place for our first time,” he ended with a chuckle, already trying to lead Ori toward the door.

“I’m...sorry....”

“There’s naught to be sorry for, love,” Dwalin said softly as they exited the barn as quickly as they had entered.

Nori rolled over on his back, taking deep breaths to make up for the time he held his breath, his eyes wide as he stared up into the ceiling. Bofur didn’t hesitate a moment before he straddled the thief next to him, removing his coat, still breathing rapidly from earlier. He grinded against Nori as hard as he dared, roughly kissing him - at this point, Nori didn’t seem to care about any marks being left behind, Bofur was already his to do with as he pleased, and he bit down on the toymaker’s neck. Barely having to fight for it, Nori forced Bofur to the side, making him lie down as Nori pulled off both of their shoes and proceeded to remove his own clothes. Bofur needed no verbal confirmation at this point, and pulled off his as well.

“Turn around, head down, arse in the air,” Nori commanded without a seconds hesitation and a wide grin, as he reached into his coat for the oil. “And remember to relax...”

It did not take long for Bofur to see stars, even though it was only a finger to begin with, then two, and even three (the third one, he did not notice, as he was far too caught up in moaning and begging to Nori to take him), followed by nothing, and then Nori’s erection. He worked up a slow rhythm, trying to be gentle as he thrusted into Bofur’s behind, but it did not take long before Bofur’s mouth let out words, ones neither of them anticipated.

“Ori takes after ye, I notice,” he mumbled with his eyes closed.

Nori stopped completely. “What?”

“So eager to fuck in a barn.” Bofur himself could not believe what he had just said, even though it seemed true enough.

The thief reached forward, grabbing a handful of hair as he got as close to the toymaker’s ear as he could. “What did you say?”

“Nothing, I-”

“You don’t speak of my brother that way,” Nori snarled. “I’d break your nose for that, if you didn’t have such a pretty face...” He trailed off, and Bofur thought he was off the hook, so to speak.

But a sudden mix of pain and pleasure in his rear proved him wrong, making him moan loudly. The sensation returned at each of Nori’s rough thrusts, whose hand still had a steady grip of Bofur’s hair, holding him down, and the other gripping Bofur's hip, nails digging into his skin. Bofur could do very little to help his current position, as he was being roughly dominated, and he knew this. He loved it.

“Oh, Aulë! Nori!” he moaned loudly.

He felt the need to touch himself, to bring himself over the edge - it would not take long, his orgasm was already so close - but his arms would not move a single bit. Nori’s arms, on the other hand, moved. The thief reached around and began to roughly touch the toymaker’s erection, and it felt so good Bofur thought he would explode. Within minutes, Bofur cried out and finished, white lights flashing before his eyes and Nori still pounding into him. A few more rough thrusts, then Nori finished as well, panting and swearing.

Bofur could only lie still and try to catch his breath as Nori pulled out with a small smile on his lips to lie down beside his toymaker, whispering, “I’m sorry.”

“I had it comin’,” Bofur mumbled with a grin. "I’ll be sore later, but I deserved much worse, after what I said."

Nori put his arm around Bofur, kissing the latter’s forehead as a grin spread on his face as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how Bofur was wondering what it was like to have sex with an angry Nori? Bofur's subconcious did it on purpose. Yup. 
> 
> Also, headcanons regarding sex in this story: Bofur will be with Nori in any way Nori will let him. Dwalin wants everything to be perfect and romantic for Ori...at least the first time. And Thorin will wait for Bilbo to feel ready.


	26. Chapter 26

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dori can't sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So apparently, being so tired I can sleep for a week doesn't slow me down, it just makes me write worse. Oh well!

Nori and Bofur quietly slipped in through the door to Beorn's house right before supper - nobody had taken a seat yet, and nobody seemed to take notice. Dori's eyes flickered through the Company, and Bofur wondered if he had noticed, but his eyes stopped on Ori, and the oldest brother Ri sighed in relief. Nori didn't say a word for the entire time they ate, and Bofur was far less chatty than normal, for they were both painfully aware of Fili's glare.

Beorn had left - instructing the Company to under no condition should they go outside before dawn - when Gandalf decided it was time to sleep. Nori was at this point already asleep, snoring lightly against Bofur's shoulder where they sat, and the toymaker attempted to not wake up his thief as he carried Nori to the beds Beorn had improvised. Nori was normally such a light sleeper that Bofur was surprised to see that his One merely opened one eye, lazily, and then closed it again to continue sleeping.

"I love you," he whispered softly as he laid down beside Nori.

Nori slept well that night, dreamless, and Bofur only dreamt of treasures (of more than the golden kind) in Erebor. Oin dreamt of unknown letters he could not read, and Gloin dreamt of his son and wife, as did Bombur (although in his case all of his children, as he had many more). Thorin dreamt of the Arkenstone - and how beautiful it would look in a golden chain around Bilbo's neck - as he slept soundly next to the hobbit, who in turn had dreams of returning to the Shire, but in his dream he was not alone. Bifur relived the worst moment of his life (the moments before he was permanently scarred by an axe) and Dwalin relived the best moment of his own (when he first realized Ori was his One). Kili and Fili both had dreams of Bofur, but in very different ways. Balin dreamt of books - he missed them - and Ori dreamt of hope, and love, and the warrior he slept next to. What Gandalf dreamt of, not even he knew.

Only Dori was awake, sleepless and worried. He thought of his brothers and remembered what their mother told him as she ran out the door to assist the city guard when Erebor was attacked by Smaug. She had taken his hand on both of hers, looked him in the eyes, and said ‘take care of your brothers, don’t let them get hurt’, and then she had left. Ori was too young to understand what was happening, and Nori had bravely taken the lead when they ran from Erebor, only to later go completely numb and not speak a word for at least a month. For days, Dori had believed their mother was dead, and she had believed all three of her sons had been killed. The first time Dori and Nori (and Ori, but he would not remember it) saw their mother cry was when she found them among the older dwarves, scared and confused.

When the three brothers had left home to join the quest for Erebor was the first time Ori remembered seeing her cry. She had taken Dori’s hand in both of hers, now aged and scarred, and told him the same thing as she did before: ‘take care of your brothers, don’t let them get hurt’. But Dori was older now, and his brothers were no longer kids. It felt so much harder to protect them.

Dori was not smart, not compared to his brothers. He was not observant, he was rarely the first to notice something. But he did keep an eye on his brothers, because he had been told to. Once he had found Nori sleeping under a tree, with his head in Bofur’s lap, he had become very suspicious. When morning came, Dori had decided what to do. Before anyone else woke up, he creeped over to where Bofur and Nori slept entangled. He poked Bofur in the ribs to wake him, hand covering the toymaker’s mouth so he would not wake Nori.

“Ow, what was tha’ for?” Bofur whined once Dori removed his hand.

Dori said nothing, but motioned for Bofur to be quiet and follow him. With a confused frown and one last look at Nori, Bofur slowly rolled away and stood up, following his thief’s older brother out through the door.

Dori glared. “I think there’s something you have neglected to ask me.”

The toymaker blinked. Dori motioned for him to say something.

“Uh, I...what exactly would that be?” He reached up and scratched his head under his hat.

“Well I do believe it’s custom to ask family members for approval when you court someone?” Dori crossed his arms, quite disappointed that the toymaker could have forgotten something like this.

“Oh,” Bofur mumbled with a blush. “Aye, I understand that...but I had a hard time convincing Nori to, err, let me court him in the first place. I didn’t want to ask before I was sure he’d let me, forgive me.” He had taken off his hat in an attempt to look more formal - that was probably how Dori would have liked it, Bofur suspected.

Bofur would not consider what they did to be courting. He honestly had no idea what he would like to call it, all he knew was that he wanted to be with Nori, in any and all ways Nori would have him. Courting traditionally involved asking the other’s family for approval, despite the fact that it was customary to say yes - if they were truly the other’s One, the opinions of their family could not keep them apart - but asking was an important tradition to most families, in particular the more noble ones.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter.” Dori threw his hands up in the air. “Nobody seems to care about my opinion anyways.”

“Oh, no, I do! I would very much like yer approval.” Bofur nodded eagerly. “I want ye to know that I wish to bring Nori happiness, and that I could never bring myself to hurt him in any way, and...that...he is my One.”

Dori, feeling more respected than he had in the past few years, actually smiled at the dwarf before him. He nodded and gave Bofur a rather awkward but tight hug, something Bofur could never have anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bofur! How could you forget something so important as asking for approval!?
> 
> On an unrelated note: dwarves use the words "Mahal" and "Aulë" (I mean names, not words, of course) like swears in the same way we go "Jesus Christ" or "God", but I think they have some far nastier swears too, that both Nori and Dwalin probably use a lot.   
> Now HOBBITS, they probably don't swear a whole lot, I like to think they use everyday words as "swears". Like, they stub their toe and go "Oh garden gnomes!" or something like that. They're such innocent babies, all those hobbits.


	27. Chapter 27

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwarves like to abuse Beorn's door, and this is not a euphemism for something else!

Bofur did not even get a chance to turn around and go back inside before Nori slammed the door open. The look in his eyes was wild and his hair was no longer in those three peaks he normally kept it in, but rather messy and hanging down over his shoulders. He calmed down noticeably when he saw Bofur, but when he saw his own older brother, he froze.

“What are you doing?” he mumbled, keeping eye contact with Dori.

“Thought you could keep secrets from your older brother, did you?” the older brother started, getting interrupted by Bofur.

“I was asking for...approval. Ye know, courtship and all.”

Nori remained silent, his lips tightly together, as he looked at his brother with wide eyes.

“You’ll be pleased to know I approve of Bofur,” Dori said, one eyebrow raised and arms crossed in a way that contradicted what he had just said.

Nori nodded slowly. “Good.”

At this, Dori went back inside the house and closed the door behind him. Bofur tugged his own sleeve, still holding his hat with the other hand, and shifted uncomfortably under Nori’s stare.

“Courtship?” Nori’s voice was a bit hoarse, Bofur noticed now.

The toymaker began to blurt out his thoughts very fast. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to say to him, and he asked why I hadn’t asked fer approval yet but I told him I had such a hard time convincing you to even let me court you and...should I have said something else?”

Nori took Bofur’s hand in both of his, running his fingers over it as he spoke. “To tell the truth, I was a bit alarmed to find that you were gone when I woke up.”

“Oh?” he smiled, once again thinking that Nori was starting to become so much like the toymaker himself.

The thief cleared his throat, but his voice was still very hoarse when he spoke again. “I...I’m scared, Bofur. I’m terrified I will lose you.”

“Don’t worry, ye won’t lose me,” Bofur began, pulling the other in for a warm hug, but Nori cut him off before he could finish.

“No, you don’t understand, I could lose you...in the blink of an eye. I don’t just mean you running away from me, leaving me, but I also fear...that you will die,” Nori mumbled, holding Bofur tightly.

The toymaker barely dared to move, not sure how to read Nori, but he did what he knew had worked when Nori had a nightmare: he begun to rub circles on the thief’s back, hoping it would feel as calming as it had then. He could feel the other dwarf breathing against his neck, slow breaths, each one resembling a sigh. With his other hand, the one still holding the hat, he reached up and gently pushed the hat down on Nori’s head - while Bofur had been warned more than once not to touch Nori’s hair, it was already a mess, and he figured it could hardly matter at a moment like this. With that, Nori recovered, stepping back a little but still with his hands grasping Bofur’s arms gently, as if trying to hold him still.

“So, courtship, eh?” The cocky grin was back.

Bofur did not think, he merely spoke. “Yes. I would like to court ye, Nori.”

The thief laughed, a warm laugh coming from his heart. “Then I will accept that, and I would like to court you as well.”

The door slammed open once more, flying into Nori as yet another dwarf appeared. Oin didn’t even notice that the door had knocked Nori over for his sights were set on another prize, that in the form of breakfast, already set out on a small (too small for all the dwarves to sit around) table outdoors. Bofur gently helped Nori up again - the latter insisting he was not hurt - and joined Oin for breakfast. Soon enough, they were joined by Dwalin and Ori, followed by Dori, Balin and Gloin, and eventually Bifur, Bombur, Fili and Kili came along. Only Thorin and Bilbo were missing from breakfast, and Balin insisted that some food would be saved for them, as Bofur went inside to wake them.

As he stumbled over the hobbit’s feet, not having seen him, he at least accomplished what he had gone inside for. “Wake up, lazybones, or there will be no breakfast left for you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nori's got a soft side! Who'd have known?


	28. Chapter 28

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ori is next in line to ask for approval. Nori is concerned. Still.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here have another chapter before I go to bed. Comments are so amazingly appreciated; the joy, to wake up and see tons of comments to respond to, can hardly compare to anything else!

Balin could hardly have been happier. Perhaps the lad was a bit young, but he did not doubt his brother when Dwalin had said the boy was his One, and the heart wants what the heart wants. Balin was so very pleased with the fact that it was Ori - an apprentice who spent his days in a library, the youngest brother of a reasonably respectable family (Dori's tea was not lost on Balin) and among the kindest dwarves the old one had met - because he completed Dwalin in a way that had been so unexpected. He was Dwalin’s opposite in many ways, but it didn’t matter to either of them, and Balin had never seen his brother happier.

Because of this, the boy did not need to speak the words for Balin to know he was asking for permission - asking for approval of courtship was rarely a one way thing - and the old dwarf did not need to think about it to know what to say.

“I would be honored, and I hope that this courtship will go far enough that you shall marry.”

This was an answer that could spread both dread and joy. Knowing the other one’s family wants to see the two marry increases the pressure of doing so, but it would also say that the family liked them enough to want this. Ori, luckily, was ecstatic.

The boy bowed deeply as he tried to contain his excitement. “I am glad to hear that.”

“Now, lad, there’s no need to bow.” Balin urged the boy to stand up straight to embrace him tightly.

Dwalin, firmly planted by Ori’s side, allowed his lips to curl up in a pleased smile. Nori, watching from afar, tried to contain his emotions best he could, and only let his eye twitch a bit as he eyed Dwalin. Dwalin could not see him, nor could Balin or Ori. Bofur stood behind him, an amused smile playing on his lips - of course, this situation was so amusing to him.

“Ye know, I think he’ll good for Ori,” Bofur mused into his ear. “And ye missed yer chance to make him back off - if that was even an option - when he asked for approval and ye spaced out.” Nori wished he had held his tongue.

Bofur remembered when Bombur had first introduced his One - now his wife - and that had been among the fastest approvals of history, he guessed. Bifur had cast one look on her and then bowed respectfully, gently kissing her hand. Bofur had taken off his hat and bowed as well, but he had not dared to look her in the eye out of fear it would seem disrespectful (she would later scold Bofur for this and force him to look her in the eye when he spoke). She had not yet said a word. She had come for their approval, but it was not needed: despite their caution, they could not have wished for a better wife for Bombur.

“I don’t understand why yer so against it, Dwalin showed his qualities in the barn, if ye haven’t forgotten.” He was referring to Dwalin wanting to wait before having sex, but the blush on Nori’s face told Bofur that the thief was thinking of something else.

“Can’t help it, don’t want my brother to lose all hope in love because Dwalin might be a complete arse to him,” Nori mumbled, still blushing a bit.

“I really don’t think he’d be going through all of this just to hurt yer brother,” Bofur said with a kind smile.

Nori growled a little. “Well he might hurt Ori anyways, even if Ori is his One. I should know, I can’t exactly say all I want with you is to cuddle and kiss, if you recall the barn, you really did make me pretty angry.”

“Ah, yes, the barn. When ye got so angry ye made me orgasm,” Bofur laughed, leaning forward to rest his head against Nori’s back. “It was very nice. I liked it.”

“Mahal, don’t say those kind of things when I’m trying to look after my brother.” Nori buried his face in his hands. “I don’t want to think about that!”

Bofur couldn't help but feel happy and content at the fact that Nori had technically just said Bofur was his One; as it had not come up since Nori accepted the advances, Bofur could only assume it was so. A bit of confirmation was always nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know, Nori hadn't actually said specifically that Bofur was his One before this chapter. Before this, he just went "I love you", but hey, confirmation!


	29. Chapter 29

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The king refuses to leave, Bilbo wishes to court the king, and Nori courts his One properly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, celebration chapter for 3000 hits!
> 
> Also, the mouse for my laptop broke thanks to karma. So. Not yay for that.

Throughout the second day at Beorn's home, the king refused to leave. He wanted to stay, it was as if he had lost all motivation to take back Erebor. Not that Beorn would force them to leave, but the wizard argued that they could not turn back now that they were almost there - all they had left was Mirkwood and after that, a few days of walking past a great lake and to the Lonely Mountain. Thorin did not explain his reasons more than saying they could get hurt, and he would then cast a look toward Bilbo.

Naturally, Gandalf was not the only one to complain, but Bofur sympathized with the king - it was the hobbit who would go in first, after all, and it was the hobbit who would be in immediate danger first. The next day, Thorin’s mind had taken a different turn. Now they were to leave immediately, but this got complaints as well, and Bofur wondered how Thorin was supposed to rule a whole mountain when he could barely rule over a Company of 15 (if you were to include Gandalf and Thorin himself).

“We want to rest a few more days first,” Gloin had said.

“Yes, Mirkwood will not be easy,” Beorn had rumbled - as it was his house, he had a say in all of this. “And I shall send horses for you to ride on, but when you get to Mirkwood you must send them back. I shall also send supplies with you.”

“Very well,” Thorin had muttered.

And so it was that Nori spent another day watching his brother and looking over his shoulder every now and then, as he was starting to get uncomfortable under Fili’s murderous looks, and had begun to think the prince would have him killed. Bofur did not fret, he could not believe that the heir of the throne would kill the toymaker’s One just to have said toymaker for himself. Nonetheless, Bofur would stay close to his thief to make him feel safe, as they smoked their pipes together outside, but when Nori stood up Bofur was told not to follow.

“Why not?” he asked.

“It’s a secret,” Nori said with a grin.

Bofur tilted his head with a similar grin. “Ooh, now that make’s me even more curious!”

“You’re staying right there, I’ll know if you’ve moved by the time I come back.” Nori turned to leave.

“But what if I have to move? Like, if it starts raining or I have to piss?”

The thief shook his head. “I won’t be gone long, just stay right there. You can sit in the rain for all I care,” he said jokingly and leaned down to kiss Bofur's forehead gently.

Bofur’s hands were tingling, he was so terribly curious. What could it be? From his spot on the wooden bench he could watch Nori disappear around the corner, and he tried his very best to not think about it. He still found himself looking toward the corner quite often, his pipe nearly forgotten in his hand. Bofur stared so long toward the corner that he was very startled by a movement beside him.

“Hi,” Bilbo mumbled as he sat down beside the toymaker.

"Oh, Bilbo, what can I do fer ye?" Bofur remembered his pipe, and once more stuck it in his mouth.

The hobbit nervously began to fidget with the sleeve on his shirt. "I, err, I'm curious. Maybe you could help me out a little."

"Curious about what, my friend?"

"Dwarven courting," the Hobbit said in a low voice.

Bofur hardly had to use his brain for this. "Oh, ye mean ye wish to court Thorin!"

"Not so loudly!" Bilbo hissed at him, looking around to make sure nobody had heard.

“Now, my dear Mister Baggins, we’ve all seen ye eyeing him,” Bofur put his arm around the hobbit smiling widely at him. “Dwarven courtship is...different from dwarf to dwarf, but mostly ye ask for the other’s family’s approval of the whole thing - this is just tradition, if yer his One it doesn’t matter what his family think - and this is done in the early stages of the courtship. Then there’s gifts, and words; I expect hobbits have that too. Some choose to learn the other’s craft as well, especially if they can’t afford gifts. If not on a quest like ours, there would also be cooking for yer One and other things, but it’s very individual. Ye could braid his hair though.”

Bilbo thought about it for a while. “It sounds a bit like how it is for hobbits, yes. But gifts, what kind of gifts?”

“Depends on the dwarf,” Bofur said lightly, shrugging. “Well, both dwarves, both the one giving and the one receiving. I, for example, would perhaps carve something for Nori, or give him a song. Or some useless stone I find in a mountain, I am a miner, after all. Ori would probably give a book. Or a scarf. Maybe mittens and a cardigan.”

“I see,” Bilbo mumbled.

Trying to be helpful, the dwarf said: “Or just...give him something that reminds ye of him, perhaps.”

He then felt a tap on his shoulder, and turned to see that his beloved thief was back, one hand tightly gripping a piece of string wrapped around something that looked a whole lot like Nori’s tunic - judging by the shape of it, Bofur could only assume something was wrapped into the tunic as well. Nori then set it down gently in Bofur’s lap.

“Go ahead, open it. The hobbit is in luck, getting a demonstration of an acceptable gift.” Nori, still with the pipe in his mouth, sat down and looked at his toymaker as the gift was opened. “I want the tunic back though, sorry, I couldn’t find anything better to wrap it in.”

Bilbo leaned closer to get a good look at it as Bofur unfolded the tunic, and revealed a small dagger, and the toymaker and the hobbit both thought it looked very familiar. It had a symbol carved on the handle, and as the sun hit the blade, Bilbo had to look away because of how clear the reflection was.

“This is-” Bofur started, baffled.

“One of my da’s daggers, I have the other one. See?” Nori pulled out an identical dagger from his vambraces, showing it to Bofur and Bilbo before putting it back again. “I want you to have it.”

“I can’t accept this!” Bofur blurted out.

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course you can,” Nori said with a snort. “Besides, I have approval of courtship now, and this is me courting you.”

Bofur considered this for a second. “...ye asked my brother for approval?”

“‘Course. And your cousin. I don’t think Bifur likes me a whole lot, but he didn’t exactly tell me to back off.”

“What **did** he tell you then?” Bilbo inquired.

“In short, he is me, and Bofur is his Ori.” Nori sucked thoughtfully on the pipe.

“What does that mean?” The hobbit was so very curious about this.

“It means he told me to take good care of his cousin, or else I’d be...a few limbs short, one of these days.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-daa. I felt like Bilbo was getting neglected here. He IS rather close to Bofur, after all.


	30. Chapter 30

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori harbors a LOT of anger, and Fili knows just which buttons to push.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel sort of guilty for not updating much yesterday, but how could I, I was out all day?
> 
> Something kind of strange is probably the fact that this was written on Valentine's Day...I feel guilty for that too!

The sun came up the third day, and there were many yawns and sighs as Thorin shook them, one after another, to wake them. He began by waking his nephews, letting the hobbit sleep as long as possible, and in turn, they helped wake up the others. Kili literally rolled onto Oin and Gloin, only to get smacked by both for it. Thorin shook Dwalin’s shoulder roughly, waking both him and Ori. Fili crept over to Nori and Bofur. He felt very sinister, but he was not sure what to do when he actually got there. This was one of those chances he would never get back, and he wanted to make the toymaker remember it.

The prince gently lifted the hat off Bofur’s head, placing it on his own before leaning forward a bit toward the toymaker. He considered just laying down next to him, breathing in Bofur’s scent, but surely his uncle would scold him for that. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew he would probably get scolded for this as well.

A gentle touch, caressing the toymaker’s braids. “Bofur.”

Bofur shivered and backed up against the thief who held him tightly from behind.

His hand travelled to the toymaker’s face, following his jawline. “Bofur.”

Bofur’s lips parted slowly. “...Nori?” He then opened his eyes, making eye contact with the prince before him, and let out a scream that saved Thorin and Kili the trouble of waking everyone else.

It wasn’t until now that Fili realized his idea had not been the best. Perhaps he should have tried a different technique - maybe bringing Bofur breakfast would have made him happier? The prince stood up quickly, partially to avoid Nori. The thief had clawed in Fili’s general direction immediately after Bofur’s scream, and was now on his feet, ready to reach for a knife.

“You little brat! What are you doing?” Nori shouted - as if all the dwarves were not already up and very much interested in how this would end.

“I’m just trying to wake him,” Fili mumbled, but his face was very daring, defiant.

Nori snarled. “That’s not how you wake someone!”

The thief had moved to stand between the prince and the toymaker, as Bofur looked on with both eyebrows raised high. Somewhere behind Bofur stood Dori, hissing at Nori to not make trouble. Fili was a prince after all.

And Nori acknowledged this, in his own way. “I would gut you if you weren’t the prince.”

At this, Thorin tried to step in front of Fili to avoid having either the thief or the prince jump the other. He did not wish for any member of the Company to get harmed, and he was about to speak up (and tell Nori to calm down) when Fili directed his attention to Bofur.

“See, I told you he was violent! He’ll only hurt you, can’t you see that? How can you want to be with a thief, a murderer, a liar, when you could be with a prince?”

Nori turned, wondering how Bofur would react - it was not a lie, after all. But Bofur merely stood beside Nori, a sad but calm frown spread on his face. It hurt Nori to see the toymaker like this, and his shoulders slumped a bit.

“I’d like my hat back, lad,” he said in a low voice, reaching out his hand.

Fili took it off and handed it over.

“Thank ye.” Bofur sounded far more serious than he had been in a long, long time.

Bofur then turned his heel, and left - he would not put up with this kind of argument, especially when he had already made it clear that he was not interested in Fili. Bifur and Bombur followed, both of them with big frowns on their faces. Nori turned as well, and he tried to leave - he really did - but Fili foolishly opened his mouth again, making Nori completely blind with rage.

“You don’t deserve him.”

Thorin gaped at his nephew - that was a horrible thing to say to someone who has found his One. Saying that you don’t deserve your One was worse than insulting someone’s mother, and just that could easily get you killed around the wrong people. The king had nothing to say in Fili’s defense, and before Dori could reach out and stop his brother, Nori had pinned Fili to the ground.

“And you think you do? You think you deserve him?” Nori shouted - Bofur, who was not even in the house anymore, could hear him, as could Beorn, who was also outside - “ **Nobody** deserves him! He is far, far too good for me, but he is also too good for you.” He ended up growling the last few words relatively quietly.

Kili was close to crying as he ran over and tried to pry Nori off his brother, and Bilbo was hiding his face in Thorin’s fur coat - he did not dare to watch. Thorin stood still, suddenly feeling as though Fili had said it to him instead of Nori.

“He’s not something you can lock away for safekeeping. He’s not an object, he has-” Fili’s shouting came to an abrupt stop when Nori’s fist hit his face.

“You’re not his One!” Nori shouted, as he raised his hand once more.

“Nori, no!” Ori tried to run up to his brother, but Dwalin held him back, for he could see that trying to separate them would be too dangerous.

The thief hesitated. Fili took this chance to grab Nori and throw him to the side, pinning him down in turn. Blood dripped down on Nori’s face, and Fili looked about ready to kill him.

“I may not be his One, but he is mine,” Fili whispered. “He must be: I would throw myself off a cliff for him.”

Nori was halfway certain the prince was reaching for a knife when Fili was suddenly lifted off of Nori. Beorn held Fili in a steady grip, as Dori and Ori ran up to their brother and tried to help him up, but he just laid there and made no effort to get up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, Fili, I just...I don't know. I like it when Nori gets angry, especially when he tries so hard not to!


	31. Chapter 31

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bofur runs away from (Beorn's) home.

Bofur could hear Nori shout from inside Beorn’s house.

“And you think you do? You think you deserve him?”

He turned and stared at the door with wide eyes, but he did not go back inside. Instead, he glared at it until Beorn went inside, and he could hear Fili and Kili both sobbing loudly, and he could hear Dori and Ori talk loudly - quite possibly they were talking to Nori - and then he turned away again and calmly walked into the forest, Bifur following him without question. Bombur however, stayed behind, worried the Company would think they were missing.

“Don’t tell ‘em where I went, Bom,” Bofur mumbled.

Of course, Bofur was so terribly worried about his One that it hurt, but he didn’t want to see, he didn’t want to know, he needed some time away from the Company - constantly smiling can not be healthy, but he did not want anyone to worry. He didn’t mind Bifur tagging along. Bifur was quiet, and it was comforting to know he was not entirely alone when he moved past the trees, pushing branches aside. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed before they came to a small creek, but it made him stop.

“ _Stopping_?” Bifur asked.

“Ah, ye can stay if ye want, I think I’ll keep walking a bit more though.” He didn’t leave, and Bifur knew exactly why.

“ _Leave something_.” Bifur looked at his cousin, obviously meaning to go with him.

“What, so they’ll find us? Ye don’t have to follow me, cousin.”

Bifur merely stared at his cousin, until Bofur sighed, rolled his eyes and agreed to leave something behind. He considered leaving the dagger Nori had given him (safely tucked into his boot with the sheath on, it only felt right to keep it hidden), so they would know it was he who had left it, but it didn’t feel right - he wasn’t trying to reject Nori, only get some time alone - so he hung up his hat on a branch and then jumped over the creek.

He was not sure where he was going, or what he was looking for, but once the sun began to set, Bifur sat down by a tree. Bofur did not hesitate to do the same - even though he was planning on going back, he didn’t feel ready to do so quite yet. It was very dark when Bofur spotted a light coming toward them, and assumed it was the Company. It was coming from the wrong direction, but perhaps they had circled around.

Much too late did the toymaker - and his cousin, also a toymaker - realize that it was definitely not the Company. It was definitely more along the lines of orcs, maybe a dozen. Bofur was struck with fear when he realized he hadn’t brought his mattock, and felt foolish at the same time, as he had not even considered there would be anything dangerous in the woods.

“Mahal...” he mumbled as he watched his cousin furiously fight the orcs - he had not brought a proper weapon either, but he did have a knife.

Backing away from the fight, he suddenly realized that he had a knife too. A very pretty one, one he wanted to be very careful with, one that would save his life as he reached into his boot and pulled it out. This was in the nick of time, too, as one of the orcs had noticed him, but not the knife, and ran straight into his own death. Terrified, but shaking with adrenaline, he shouted loudly to get the attention of the orcs; to his horror, it worked. Bofur felt no need to keep them near his cousin, already jumped by at least one of them, so he shouted at them until they came toward him, and then he ran. Not in the direction of Beorn’s house though, he ran away from it instead.

“Come here, come an’ get me!” he screamed in a shrill voice as he jumped up and down and ran through the woods. “Come on, ye ugly bastards!”

His travel came to an unexpected stop when he ran right into a branch he had not seen. Bofur tried to pick up the pace again, but he realized he could not outrun them. Nor could he fight them, for he had dropped the knife (or rather, he had left it in the first orc). So he dived head first into the water when his road was abruptly stopped by a river, hoping the orcs were not good at swimming.

Sadly, neither was Bofur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bofur, you fool!


	32. Chapter 32

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori nearly dies of worry, and a near-death experience is exactly what Bofur needs to not care that his One picked a fight with the prince.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the cliffhanger in the last chapter - apparently I'm evil now~

Nori had never felt so empty. The satisfaction of breaking Fili’s nose had only lasted until it was Fili’s turn to be on top, not only because he was the one who was about to get badly hurt, but because the prince had reminded him that Bofur was not there. He knew that Bofur would not like the thought of them fighting. Bofur was later nowhere to be found, even though Nori looked for hours. He looked in the barn, he looked in the stables, he looked just about everywhere.

Nori wished he could turn back time.

“Bifur and Bofur have been gone for nearly five hours, I’m getting worried,” Bombur had mumbled to the king.

The king had mumbled back. “Perhaps we should organize a search for them...”

It was Dwalin who found the hat, propped up on a branch by a creek. He guessed they had went over the creek, and Nori felt something spark in him again, as if he had been dead but was now revived at the sight of Bofur’s hat. He ran across the creek, Dwalin and Ori close behind, in hopes of finding something, another clue. Soon, he slowed down, and the rest of the Company caught up.

It was Bilbo who found the dagger, deeply thrusted into the chest of an orc - one of at least five dead ones. He recognized it immediately, and shouted for Nori to have a look. When Nori did, he felt as if his body was not sure whether he was dead or alive, because his heart stopped, only to then beat faster than before as he ran around screaming Bofur’s name.

It was Fili (having been told to stay behind, but refused to) who found Bifur, running along the drop down to a river, shouting in Khuzdul. He was completely mad, and first tried to fight Fili off, but Bombur came along soon enough and calmed his cousin. This time, Nori definitely felt like someone was putting out the light in his heart that had sparked when he had seen the hat. He was desperate as he ran along the river.

It was Nori who found Bofur, where the river had become far more shallow, the toymaker halfway crawled up on land. He didn’t move until Nori sat down and turned him over, and then he began shaking more than Nori thought was possible. At the sight of this, Nori could not help but cry of relief.

“A-re ye go-gonna sit there all d-day? I-I’m f-reezing to d-d-death here!” Bofur said (or stuttered) as loud as he could, but he felt so drained it nearly came out as a whisper.

Nori smiled at this, tilting his head slightly. “It’s night, darling.”

“D-did ye just c-all me ‘d-darling’?” Bofur mumbled with a weak smile.

“Yes, I did,” Nori said as he picked the toymaker up in his arms. “Let’s go get you fixed up, darling.”

Not even halfway to Beorn’s house, Bofur passed out, but Nori thought very little of it. That is, until Oin ripped off most of Bofur’s clothes to check for injury, only to find an open wound across his chest - Nori could only imagine he had missed it because he was so relieved from finding Bofur alive that he did not consider he was hurt. Nori then proceeded to get thrown out of Beorn’s house so Oin, Ori and Dori could get some space while they did what they could for poor freezing Bofur (Ori and Dori mostly stitching the wound).

Nori thought he was going crazy. He could do little but pace back and forth, until Dwalin roared at him to sit down - the thief was so shocked at this that he actually did so. Kili did not keep his eyes away from Fili for more than a second, looking as though he was certain his brother’s face would fall apart. Bombur and Bifur both sat silently until Dori came back out from the house.

“The cut wasn’t that much of a problem, really. He’s lost a bit of blood, but it’s shallow,” Dori announced. “The problem here is that he’s cold, and I don’t mean just a little bit cold.”

Ori looked out through the door. “Ah, he’ll be fine though, he just needs a couple more days to rest.”

When they were told it was alright to go inside and see him, Nori didn’t know how he felt. As he kneeled by Bofur’s side, seeing him wrapped in at least a dozen blankets to keep him warm, Nori was still not sure what he felt.

What came out was concern in the form of anger. “What in the name of Aulë were you thinking? You idiot!”

Bofur, looking so small inside all those blankets, with his hair unbraided and his hat off (despite needing the warmth of it) just smiled. He knew Nori would have wrapped his arms around the toymaker if said toymaker was not wounded. He knew he was just scared. And Bofur - using most of his strength for this - managed to move his hand, letting it find its way through the many blankets, and then grasping Nori’s own hand.


	33. Chapter 33

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Bofur is the best wingman even when bedridden.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. Another sexy chapter. Running out of ideas, but I can't stall this thing forever!

For the following four days, Bofur was constantly a warm bundle of blankets. Oin forbid him from unfolding the blankets enough to move his arms for the first day, and Nori had to feed him every time he was hungry. Not that it mattered - he spent a lot of time just slipping in and out of consciousness. He also left his hair unbraided, for Nori to braid once the toymaker got better. While he was awake, he got scolded by the others for being so irresponsible, but he knew they were all just concerned so he tried his best to smile at them.

The only one who did not scold him for what he did was Bilbo, who would sit next to Bofur and talk. Bilbo did most of the talking, of course, and it was nearly always about hobbits and their traditions. On one particularly fine day (that Bofur did not get to see at all) Bilbo mentioned courtship.

“The knife Nori gave you, that seemed to be more than acceptable as a courting gift,” the hobbit said. “It belonged to his father. Is it common for dwarves to give away things that belonged to their parents or grandparents or such?”

"Mhh," was the confirmation the dwarf had even heard him. "'Specially weapons an' jewelry."

"Jewelry...rings?" Bilbo wondered, thinking not of the one he got from Gollum, but rather his own grandfather's ring (very beautifully made, in gold and decorated with a gem) which he thought must have been packed into his bag.

Then Bilbo remembered that he no longer had the bag, and was overcome with despair.

Bofur was half asleep at this point. "'Jus give him flowers an' a kiss, maybe ask for a bit of...ye know, good old sword polishing."

"Sword polishing?" Bilbo repeated, utterly confused.

"Aye. But use the exact words I told ye, he’ll get it," Bofur mumbled with a grin, falling asleep once more.

Bilbo, not wanting to wake Bofur again, sneaked out of the house. Still feeling confused, he did what Bofur had told him - he picked up a few pretty flowers, tied them together, and went to find Thorin. Eventually, he found the king speaking to Balin.

“Ah, hello,” Bilbo started nervously, holding out the flowers. “These are for you.”

Thorin frowned a bit. “Flowers?”

“I’m really sorry, I don’t have anything that I can really use as a courting gift.” Bilbo blushed a bit. “Bofur suggested flowers, even though...I guess dwarves don’t really care for flowers...”

“Not normally, no, but I appreciate the gesture,” Thorin said and smiled kindly toward the hobbit.

“Oh, also...” He gave the king a gentle kiss. “...and I was supposed to ask for a good old sword polishing...? I don’t get why it has to be an old sword polishing though, but obviously it should be good.”

Balin’s eyes widened, and Thorin blushed a bit, gently grabbing Bilbo by the arm and leading him away from the house and into the forest. The hobbit could hardly be more confused - why polish a sword in the forest?

“I humbly accept your request,” the king said, still blushing a tiny bit.

Thorin then pulled Bilbo close, kissing him hard, as he let one hand wander into the hobbit’s trousers. Bilbo could only return the kiss and wonder what was going on (frankly, he did not really care, since the king had accepted whatever sword polishing was, and therefore he likely would not get in trouble for any of it). Thorin was stroking Bilbo’s manhood, only to drop to his knees before him and gently pull Bilbo’s trousers down, and the hobbit was slowly starting to realize what it was he had requested.

“A- wh- Thorin, what are you-” Bilbo managed to squeak.

“I’m doing what was requested.” Thorin smirked. “I could not possibly turn you down after you saved my life, my burglar.”

“That was at least a week ago, I hardly think- oh!”

As Thorin began to work on Bilbo’s cock, mouth and hands tracing it, the hobbit reminded himself to thank Bofur. To think that a king was currently taking Bilbo’s most private parts in his mouth, sucking softly, licking - Bilbo would have thought it would be the other way around, that he would have been the one kneeling and looking up at the other with pleading eyes, ever so careful to not hurt the other. The hobbit could not help but put both hands on Thorin’s head, both to hold back the latter’s hair and to keep himself from falling backwards, even though he suspected the king would not like it. If Thorin disliked it, he didn’t say. If anything, he let Bilbo slide further down his throat each time he moved his head forward, blushing and moaning as if he enjoyed it as much as the hobbit did. Bilbo let go of Thorin’s head as he finished, mostly out of concern he would unintentionally hurt the king, and Thorin licked his lips once he let go of Bilbo.

“Would- would you like some...sword polishing too?” Bilbo asked, wide eyed and panting.

“This was purely for you, and I ask for nothing in return,” Thorin said, still smirking as he stood up and gave his hobbit a gentle kiss.

Bilbo only gaped as he followed Thorin back to the house. He opened the door to see Bofur listening to Bifur speaking in Khuzdul, and ran up to the dwarf wrapped in all the blankets.

“Thank you!” he very nearly shouted at Bofur.

Bofur gave a tired smile. “I take it my advice worked.”

“Yes, very much so-” The hobbit’s eyes widened in a sudden realization. “Was it rude if I didn’t return the favor? He said he didn’t want me to, but should I have-”

“No, no, don’t worry, my friend.” Bofur closed his eyes, seeming ready to sleep again. “Dwarves only say what they mean, and little else.” He sighed, but still with that smile curling his lips upward. “Except Nori, I mean.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look, I'm not saying Bilbo is completely oblivious to naughty things, it's just that he doesn't get Bofur's phrasing. 
> 
> Also, headcanon time: Balin had a lady but she died in Erebor. Bifur's is dead as well, and she left a heartwrenching void that can never be filled, but he lives for his cousins and loves them dearly. Bombur and Gloin have found their One and married them. Oin is very disappointed he hasn't found his One. Dori doesn't know if he wants to: his family mean everything to him and he doesn't think he can love anyone more than he loves them.


	34. Chapter 34

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bofur is a half-naked gossip.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really have no idea what's going on anymore.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to hurt him, I let my temper get the best of me,” Nori whispered.

Bofur’s chest (under all the blankets) rose slowly. His eyes were calmly shut, and Nori did not want to wake him, but he simply had to let it out. The thief was not sure if he wanted Bofur to be awake or asleep, but the toymaker did not respond, so he kept going.

“Fili says you’re his One. He seems so sure of it...” Nori trailed off, leaning forward a bit.

He reached up to trace Bofur’s face with his hand, but at the first touch the toymaker’s eyes fluttered and opened. Bofur - so tightly wrapped in all those covers - shifted as much as he could to face the dwarf at his side, smiling widely. He didn’t feel as tired anymore, and he wanted nothing more than to pull his One closer for a passionate kiss. As he tried to unwrap the blankets from the inside, Nori leaned forward more than before, as if he had read Bofur’s mind. Except, the kiss was far more gentle than Bofur had thought it would be.

“Did ye know I made Thorin suck Bilbo’s dick?” Bofur blurted out when Nori pulled back.

“Excuse me?” The thief raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, aye, I told him to ask our dear king for a good old sword polishing.” Bofur’s face lit up with a proud smile that made him look far less tired than he had in the past few days.

“Really? And Thorin did it?” Nori chuckled a bit. “Who would’ve known...”

At this, Bofur pointed to himself. “Bilbo is his One, so Thorin would have some serious trouble saying no. Not to mention the hobbit saved his life.”

“Aye, true.”

The two dwarves fell silent. Bofur gazed upon his One, and Nori returned the look. After a few minutes, Bofur shifted again, trying to sit up this time. He swore at the blankets under his breath, and eventually got away from them.

“Help me up,” he told Nori.

Nori shook his head. “No, I’m fairly certain Oin said you should stay in bed.”

Bofur looked over his shoulder at the pile of blankets. “That’s hardly a bed,” he laughed as he attempted to stand up on his own.

It went well, but Nori shot up as well, wrapping one arm around Bofur’s waist to keep him steady. Bofur put his arm around Nori’s shoulder, leaning a bit on him as they slowly stumbled toward the door, Bofur dressed in only his trousers and a bandage around his chest (this was of course to not cover up the wound too much if it needed more care). As the sunlight hit Bofur’s face, his whole face lit up in a grin. Bifur wasn’t far away, and wasted no time before running up to his cousin.

“ _Back to bed_ ,” he grunted and tried to turn Bofur around, attempting to make him go back inside the house.

“Bifur, I’m fine, I just want a bit of sunlight,” Bofur laughed and spun around to go back outside.

Bofur stretched a bit as he stepped onto the grass, his bare feet having missed the feeling of anything but warm boots for quite a while. Bifur grunted and began ranting in Khuzdul, trying to get his cousin to go back inside, but Nori returned to his spot by Bofur’s side, wrapped an arm around him and looking at Bifur over his shoulder.

“Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye on him. Promise.”

Bifur grunted disapprovingly, but gave up as Bofur steered for a bench so he could sit down. Nori helped, watching Bofur closely, partially because he wasn’t wearing a shirt (honestly, how could he walk around wearing only trousers and expect Nori not to stare at him). As they sat down, Nori could still not take his eyes off the toymaker.

“Yer starin’ an awful lot. Anything wrong with my face?” Bofur asked, his smile still wide on his face.

“No, I’m just...glad you’re alive. And, you know, here with me.” The thief sighed happily.

Bofur nodded. “Mhh. Would ye care to braid my hair?” he asked, longing to feel Nori’s gentle hands touch him.

Nori rolled his eyes dramatically. “I thought you’d never ask!”

Getting his hair braided - so slowly and gently, and with occasional kisses on the shoulder - was the perfect way to start his day, Bofur thought. Of course, the day changed for the worse when the king grew impatient and decided it was time to stop taking advantage of Beorn’s hospitality. The majority of the Company argued against, but Bofur agreed with Thorin. They were given ponies, food to last for weeks, water - all they needed more of, really. Bofur then spent the afternoon trying not to fall off his pony, still a bit weaker than normal.


	35. Chapter 35

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwalin gives in, but not in the way Ori expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaanother filler! Sorry about that. Next chapter it's all Mirkwood. Dark, scary Mirkwood.

Travelling to Mirkwood was not a problem. It was calm, it was peaceful. Going into Mirkwood would be the problem, the whole Company knew this. Especially Kili and Ori - the two youngest - were more than a little terrified. They did not know what could possibly be in there, they only knew they were not to leave the path. Dwalin kept trying to convince Ori it would be fine - “I’ll be right here the whole way, lad,” - whereas Fili and Kili (despite Kili being scared as well) made it worse with speculations of what could be in there.

“What if there’s more trolls?” Fili said.

“Or...or orcs,” Kili suggested with a horrified expression on his face.

“Or, you know, elves,” Fili whispered dramatically.

The boys both laughed at this, but there was truth in it, and Thorin’s mood went from decent to angry because he knew of the elves that dwelled in Mirkwood. Of course, it used to be called Greenwood, and was once less difficult to travel through. The king could only hope they would go unnoticed by the elves ones they entered Mirkwood, but for now, they would rest one last night in the wilds.

“Bombur-”

Bombur knew what the king was about to say already. “I’m on it.”

It didn’t take long before Bombur had supper cooking, and Bofur was almost asleep at this point, Nori gently stroking his hair as he drifted off. The toymaker held his hat in his hands, wanting Nori to have full access to his hair as he rested his head on the thief’s lap.

“We should have given Bofur more time to recover...” Nori mumbled.

Bifur nodded by his side. but said nothing.

Ori volunteered to look for some more wood, and Dwalin came along with him - nobody except Dwalin had seen the look of mischief Ori had given him. The scribe ran ahead, and the warrior followed, until Ori suddenly spun around and jumped Dwalin (the latter being so surprised he fell over on his back, Ori sitting on his chest).

“Lad, I only hope yer not trying to-”

Ori cut him off with a kiss - a very rough and passionate kiss - very uncharacteristic for the young one.

“Could you really forgive yourself if we never got the chance to do this?” Ori asked, a pleading look on his face.

Dwalin sighed. “What’d yeh have in mind?”

At this, Ori only blushed a bit, smiling shyly as if it would explain.

Dwalin chuckled, sitting up with Ori still in his lap, letting their foreheads meet gently. “Trust me, when I get my hands on oil, or...anything really, anything to make it easier on yeh, I will take yeh however you please - soft lovemaking or rough sex, anything yeh want, lad. But before that, I fear it would be a bit too much for yeh.”

Ori closed his eyes, angling his head downward out of shame. “I’m sorry. I just...want to give you what you want-”

“And I don’t want to hurt yeh, little one,” Dwalin mumbled. “Even if it’s very very hard to say no to yeh.”

“You’re...scared you’ll hurt me?” Ori looked up, eyes wide.

The older dwarf chuckled. “Don’t pretend yeh haven’t seen me naked. There are those who have been unable to walk for days after, and that’s the last thing yeh need on this quest.”

Ori slowly accepted the fact that he would not get what he wanted, and soon let his wide grin return, accompanied by a blush. “There are other ways we can pleasure each other though...”

“Now that’s more like it,” Dwalin mumbled, wrestling Ori to the ground and pulling the scholar’s trousers off. “I will make yeh squeal and moan tonight, lad.”

“Oh, no, Mister Dwalin I-I meant I would-” Ori whispered.

“Trust me, lad, I know what I’m doing.”

When they finally got back the rest of the Company, Nori shot Dwalin a look - the thief was not stupid, he knew how long it takes to gather firewood - and the warrior simply shook his head. Nori and Dori both let out a sigh of relief.

Like Ori had said, what they don’t know can’t hurt them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what's that, at least one blowjob for each couple? Can't know if Dwalin got any back, but I'm going to guess he didn't (probably told Ori they had to get back, so it's not like Ori's ungrateful).
> 
> Also sorry because it's not a proper sexy chapter! I could not manage any sexy words...


	36. Chapter 36

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dwarves regret going into Mirkwood.

Mirkwood was a very dark place. Outside of the path, Bofur saw nothing but darkness. The king had told them to not sing while they followed the path, concerned something would find them if they did, but when they stopped for a rest and lit a fire, they all felt the eyes looking at them from the darkness. Even Gloin squirmed a bit and refused to sit far away from the fire.

“I want to go home,” Kili whispered in the night, and nobody could possibly blame him - nobody wanted to be in a place like this.

The wizard had left them when they reached Mirkwood, and told them to always stay on the path - Bofur wondered why they would want to try their luck outside the path, and thought that the warning seemed completely meaningless. The only good part about the first week in Mirkwood was that Bofur returned to his energetic, gleeful self, whispering jokes as they went along the path.

Then, there was a river crossing their way. They were very cautious to not touch the water as they crossed, Bilbo having seen a boat on the other side that they had managed to reel in with a rope and a hook. Bifur, Bofur, Nori and Ori crossed together, Nori keeping one hand on his One and the other on his brother to keep them still. Bombur and Dwalin crossed last, but as they reached land on the other side, Bombur fell in.

“Bombur, no!” Bofur shouted, throwing himself toward the water, but thankfully Nori caught him before he could touch it.

Dwalin and Thorin threw in a rope for Bombur to grab, but by the time he was on land again, he was fast asleep - the river had done this, and Bofur was grateful that Nori had prevented him from jumping in as well, but he also grieved as if his brother was dead and not just sleeping. Bofur was quiet for days as they continued to walk, taking turns carrying Bombur. As their supplies grew thinner, the rests became more frequent and the nightmares were many.

All over the camp, small whimpers and groans were heard at night, the results of their nightmares. More than once, Bifur woke them up by shouting in Khuzdul in his sleep, but none of them could blame him. Through all the orcs, and trolls, and wargs, Mirkwood was by far the worst part of their quest.

“I’m sorry,” Nori whispered as they tried to go back to sleep after yet another episode from Bifur.

“Don’t be, it’s not yer fault,” Bofur mumbled back and wrapped his arms around the thief.

“But I didn’t do anything to prevent it.”

Bofur was not even sure what his thief was talking about at this point, but he didn’t say anything. Their week became both better and worse when Bombur finally woke up. On one hand, Bofur was happy to see that his brother was alright, but on the other...

“I’m hungry. Didn’t you save any food for me? I need to eat. I dreamt of food, lots of it, of a feast in the forest and I’m really hungry now!” the heavy dwarf complained as they tried their best to keep walking.

“ _Stop_ ,” Bifur grumbled every time Bombur opened his mouth.

“Don’t talk about food,” Gloin whined - hearing about it only made them hungrier.

But one night, they saw a light in the forest. Thorin agreed to sneaking up to the light, to see what it was, even though Ori reminded them they were not to leave the path on any conditions. Even Bofur was eager to see what it was, hoping they would share food. Thorin hesitated when it turned out to be elves, feasting in the woods, singing around a fire - Bombur mentioned that it resembled his dream.

“We have to eat though, please Uncle,” Fili had begged.

And soon enough, Thorin gave in to their pleading and agreed to ask the elves for food. However, the second the dwarves stepped into the light, the elves were gone, along with the light, the food, and everything else. This happened more than once, as the Company followed the lights through the woods, desperate for something to eat, with only Ori squeaking that they should have stayed on the path.

The third time, they sent Thorin out to speak to them, but just as before everything went dark. This time, there was no new light in the forest, and the dwarves were all lost trying to find one of the others, desperately crying out their names. Bofur spun around, mattock in hand, when he heard strange noises around him. The shouts of his friends disappeared.

“Nori? Bifur? Bom?” He looked around even though he could hardly see anything in the dark. “Anyone?”

Then a sharp sting in his back made him lose consciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was going to do the whole frequent-updates thing to make up for...well, sticking to the storyline: when I do, my writing becomes so terribly boring.   
> But unfortunately, I'm at a bit of a loss with the chapters. I try to write as fast as I can, but coming up with what to write can be very hard!


	37. Chapter 37

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dwarves are lost.

Day and night made little difference in Mirkwood. In particular if you are not conscious to worry about the difference. Bofur could not move at all, he found, and he wondered if he was still dreaming. No, he decided, this was real life, because in his dream he had seen light, he had seen the whole Company safe, and now he saw nothing. He tried to move, but a faint shout to his left - it sounded a lot like Fili - made him stop. Then he heard faint noises moving toward him, and he stayed still until he was released from the tight wrapping of what appeared to be cobweb.

“Bofur, you’re alive!” Fili exclaimed happily.

“Aye, lad, takes more than...” Bofur paused. “What happened?”

“Spiders. Giant ones. We better get moving,” Fili said, pulling Bofur onto the branch where he sat.

“Where’s Nori?” Bofur looked around, eyeing the few bundles of cobweb still hanging on the trees around them. “I’m not going anywhere without Nori!”

Bilbo - their dear burglar, Thorin’s beloved hobbit - had freed them, it appeared. He was still going from bundle to bundle, cutting them open for the dwarves to escape, and one after another they fell out onto the ground or were lifted into the trees. Nori was one of the few who tumbled down onto the ground, immediately springing back up again and looking around.

“Where are we?”

Nobody answered, because nobody knew, but Bilbo urged them to start running - he had drawn the spiders away from the Company to save them, but the spiders would come back sooner or later. Bofur lept off the branch, taking Nori’s hand and tried to run. It just so happened that Bofur stumbled on the pile of weapons - all of them from the dwarves - on the ground, and he grabbed as much as he could. Bofur and Nori then ran for their lives, but in which direction they were not sure. Bofur began to slow down, and Nori started shouting for the others.

“Nori?” they heard Ori cry out somewhere to their right, and they ran toward him.

“Ori, we’re coming to you, stay where you are,” the thief shouted.

They could not see properly, but they heard Dwalin and Dori muttering nearby, and they trembled in the dark until they could find them, Bofur making sure Dwalin got his axes back, and then handing the warrior’s warhammer to Ori - Dwalin insisted on this. They could hear Kili shouting further ahead, and ran toward him.

“Kili, wait!”

By the time they caught up to Kili, they found that he was running in circles, trying to protect the rest of the Company.

“I have everyone’s weapons, at least I think I do,” Bofur announced, handing them out to whoever he could find in the dark.

“Bofur, where are you?” Bombur panicked, stumbling around toward Bofur’s voice when he answered.

“Bom, are you hurt?”

“We need to keep moving!”

They did not dare to look behind them, but it didn’t take long before they saw another light up ahead. More elves, Bofur hoped, and the Company was then captured by the elves, who brought them to their home, before their king - Thranduil. Not until now did they notice Thorin was missing, as was the burglar.

“Why did you try to attack my people, dwarves?”

The Company stood still and silent.

“We can not let you go.”

Bofur felt a pang of grief as the knife Nori had given him was taken away, and yet another one as they were put in cells, far from each other. Across from Bofur’s cell was Ori’s, the young dwarf curling up in a corner, clearly scared out of his wits.

“Lad, don’t be scared, we’ll think of somethin’,” Bofur said, reaching out to Ori even though he knew it was too far to reach. “We’ll get out of this.”

“No, how could we, we’re locked up!” Ori sobbed.

“Ori, lad, look at me,” Bofur said softly. “Nori has broken out of prison before, right? Can’t be any different from this."

“But we can’t just go running around in the home of the elves, they’ll just find us and put us back in here! I want to go back to Ered Luin, I want to go home,” Ori mumbled as he hid his face in his scarf.

“Someone will think of something, I promise we’ll get out of here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Following the actual plot is really hard. Yes, it is.


	38. Chapter 38

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bofur's happiest moment in the past weeks, and Bilbo's saddest.

“Bofur?”

The toymaker looked up from where he sat on the floor. “Aye?”

Ori snapped his head in Bofur’s direction. “I didn’t say anything?”

“Strange. I thought I heard my name...” Bofur shrugged and returned to biting his nails out of boredom.

“Bofur,” the voice said again, louder this time, but nobody was around except Ori.

“Why did you say your own name?” the scholar asked with a frown.

“I did not,” Bofur said, standing up this time to look around. “Someone else must have...”

He pressed his face against the bars of his cell, looking right and left trying to figure out where the voice came from. When Bilbo suddenly appeared before him, he flew backwards, falling on his behind with a surprised shriek.

“How did you do that?” Ori squeaked.

“...I just..did it,” Bilbo muttered and turned to Bofur again. “Are you alright?”

“Of course!” the toymaker laughed. “How’s Nori? And Bombur? And Bifur? Are they alright? Did you talk to them yet?”

The hobbit held his hands up, as if to make Bofur speak more quietly. “Don’t worry, they’re all safe and - as far as I can tell - perfectly fine.”

Bofur sighed of relief.

“What about Dori?” Ori asked behind the burglar.

“I’m...afraid I haven’t found him yet, I’m working on it though,” Bilbo mumbled.

So far, he had been hiding, walking the halls of the elves, searching for the Company. First, he had found Balin and Bifur, the former nervously pacing in his cell across from Bifur’s, in deep thought. Bifur had immediately jumped to the bars of the cell when he heard Bilbo’s voice. Bilbo then walked along and found Bombur, muttering in his cell by Oin, whose own cell was across from Fili’s. Fili had shouted at Bilbo to find Bofur, and Bombur had agreed, not even bothering telling the prince to lay off. In a corridor linked to the one where Ori and Bofur sat, he had found Nori and Dwalin, yelling at each other.

“I trusted you to keep my brother safe!” Nori had shouted.

“Well it’s not like yeh could keep him safe yerself!” Dwalin scowled. “We all ended up in here, so don’t blame me!”

The thief had then thrown himself against the bars. “You’re supposed to take care of him, you useless idiot! Never let him get harmed, remember?”

Bilbo had hushed them and moved on, finding Ori and Bofur - they had heard Dwalin and Nori’s loud argument, and Ori was terribly worried for both of their sakes. Bofur, however, was overjoyed to see the hobbit was not captured by the elves.

“Bilbo, I would give ye a big smooch if ye weren’t the king’s One!” he laughed on, reaching out to Bilbo for an awkward hug through the bars of his cell.

The hobbit blushed a bit, mumbling that it was his duty, but Ori frowned a bit. “We don’t know where the king is though...we haven’t seen him since before the spiders.”

“Do you mean...he could still be out there? Did I forget him in a tree?” Bilbo’s eyes were wide with fright - was this his fault?

“I- I don’t know...” Ori mumbled.

“Oh dear.”

Bilbo hurried along the corridor, disappearing from Bofur’s sight again. He ran to the large door, leading outside, but he could not open it. He tugged as hard as he could, wanting to run outside to find Thorin, but the door did not move. Bilbo was trapped.

In the deepest dungeon, far from any of the other dwarves, too far from the Company to even hear his cries if there were any, sat Thorin. He had been captured by the elves long before the others, not even having to go through the whole meeting with the spiers. When Thranduil had asked why he was there, he had refused to speak. When they took him to the dungeons, locking him up, he screamed and shouted and fought back as hard as he could.

He would not abandon his Company - he would not abandon his hobbit.


	39. Chapter 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The hobbit decides to use his brain, and Fili is terribly unloved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, the updates are slowing down a bit, sorry about that, but feel free to leave a comment or two ( - why not five? - ) to keep me motivated. Comments are always fun, it gives me something to do other than go crazy over this fanfic because I'm not sure what to write~

Bofur was surprisingly alright with being locked up in a cell. It wasn’t fancy, but Bofur prefered when it wasn’t very fancy. They were fed, even though the food was not good. If Nori had been there too, he would actually have no complaints at all. At least they had Bilbo to carry messages between them, even though Bofur - for once - could not think of anything to say when Bilbo offered to be their messenger.

Ori was not alright with being locked up. He missed his brothers, he missed his mother. The elves had taken his book and his quills, and he frequently panicked because he would not possibly be able to remember it all if he was to write it down again. The food was terrible - Bofur could eat to survive even if the food was disgusting, but little Ori could not, and so he refused to even touch the various green things on his plate.

“I want to go home,” Ori sobbed for the tenth time that day.

Bofur knew by now that he could do little to cheer up the scribe. “Lad, maybe ye should try to sleep some more, that’ll take yer mind of it.”

“No, I can’t sleep, I want to go home.” He sobbed even louder this time, only to stand up and shout as loud as he could. “Dori! Doriiii!”

The toymaker could not blame the scholar for this, and although the shouting was so very loud, he let Ori tire himself with it - perhaps he would feel better after he’d exhausted himself with screaming. Compared to most of the Company, he was so young, barely an adult and always being mothered by Dori. No wonder he was so scared - he had lived a sheltered life compared to them, and the worst injury he had suffered was probably a papercut.

Now, while Dori was far away and could not hear his baby brother’s sobs and shouts, Nori was not. The thief, who Dwalin had thought only ever showed anger and hate (at least in front of him), was currently weeping into his hands in his cell, apparently not caring that Dwalin could see him. Nori could not help but wonder why his brother shouted for Dori but not for him. He tried his hardest to always keep Ori safe, while Dori tried his hardest to not expose Ori to anything bad, and yet it was Dori who the scholar would shout for when things got bad.

Dwalin had trouble keeping himself together as well, hearing his One scream as though he was being tortured by the elves. Perhaps he was, Dwalin wondered, and could then not shake the thought that the beardless creatures were hurting him.

“I love him. Yer brother. He’s my One and I love him,” Dwalin mumbled.

Nori didn’t even look up. “Alright.”

“I mean it, I do. I don’t want yeh to keep yer eyes on me constantly because yer scared I’ll hurt the lad.” Dwalin crossed his arms.

This time, Nori looked up. “Is this really the time?” he hissed. “We’re locked up, it doesn’t matter what you will and will **not** do!”

“I think yeh should watch yer tone with me, boy,” Dwalin hissed back at the thief.

“Oh really? You think I can’t take you?” Nori warned, face pressed against the bars as if to slide through them. “When we get out of here, I swear-”

And this was when the hobbit tip-toed past them, invisible to them. “This is not the time for arguing. If you two can stay calm, I can get us all out of here,” Bilbo whispered, barely loud enough for the two dwarves to hear. “I...I found Thorin. He says to not tell the elves anything, can you do that?”

Nori wasn’t sure where to look, but he nodded toward Dwalin as if the warrior was the one who had said it. Dwalin did the same, not looking toward the thief, but toward the corridor he knew led to Ori. Surely, the old warrior wished he could walk down that very corridor right now instead of being locked up, and Nori wished he could as well, but they could only wait until the hobbit came back with news. The news were far apart and few, but messages from the other dwarves kept the whole Company going.

Bofur would tell Ori stories of bravery, telling the scholar that bravery would be needed. Balin would send messages to Thorin, asking for plans, and Thorin would kiss his hobbit and send him away with missions to search for exits and escapes. Nori would send messages with Bilbo as well, having him tell Bofur that not a moment passed where the thief did not think of his toymaker, and Dwalin did the same to Ori.

Bifur would grunt things in Khuzdul, messages to his family, and Balin had to translate word by word so Bilbo could tell Bombur and Bofur. Gloin and Oin would mostly exchange grouchy arguments, cut short by the hobbit’s memory. Fili and Kili would send along warm words of home, and memories, and their mother. Fili also asked Bilbo to take messages to Bofur, but the hobbit never told Bofur exactly what he was meant to, he only said “Fili sent a message” and Bofur did not ask what he had said, so Bilbo did not tell.

And they waited, and they listened, and day after day they did their best to keep their strength up. But Ori grew thin, surviving on the little food they had given him that was not green, and whatever Bofur could spare for him (which was most of the toymaker’s own food - he did not care for watching his One’s younger brother starve). Dori grew worried of his little brother even though he could not see him, and he was practically tearing his beard out and pacing his cell until Kili shouted at him to stop. Nori decided to send any food that was not green to Ori - he would send it all if he thought Ori would eat it. Dwalin did the same.

It took weeks before Bilbo finally sneaked up to Nori’s cell, put the key in the lock - Nori wondered where he had gotten it - and whispered to follow him. The thief fell in line with the other dwarves, most of them already released from their prisons, and gave Dori’s shoulder a friendly squeeze. As happy as he was to see his brother, he wanted to get to Bofur and Ori as soon as possible. Bilbo quietly guided them there, and when Dori finally saw Ori, Dwalin had to hold the older dwarf back.

“What have they done!” he hissed, soon hugging his little brother so tightly that Ori had to ask for help.

Bofur, looking at the other dwarves with a broad smile, was let out last. He walked along the bars of his cell, grinning wider every second, reaching out to touch everyone as Bilbo had worked on Ori’s door, and then ran to the door when the hobbit came over to let him out as well. The second the lock gave off a silent click and the door opened, he practically jumped into Nori’s arms.

“Oh, how I have missed ye,” he mumbled into the tassels of Nori’s hair.


	40. Chapter 40

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Escaping from elves, resting on the ground and speeches to a hobbit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 40th chapter! Yay~

Bofur could proudly say that their burglar did a good job rescuing them. While most dwarves complained that Bilbo thought it was a good idea to stuff them all into barrels and send them floating down the river, Bofur thought it was brilliant. As Nori helped tuck him into one of the barrels, Bofur sighed happily, knowing they would soon be free from the elves.

“I think us dwarves are too big for this,” Thorin protested.

“Nonsense,” said Bilbo, as he pressed the king into a barrel and put the lid on. “Just stay still in there.”

The hobbit had however not thought about himself, it seemed. Bofur suddenly realized this just as his own barrel was pushed into the water.

“The hobbit doesn’t have a barrel!” he shouted, even though he knew nobody could hear it.

He then mustered enough energy to open the barrel, taking in a lot of water in the process. He looked around at the barrels floating beside his own, and found Bilbo trying his best to cling to one of them, not wanting to drown. A few more lids popped off, and among them, Thorin stuck his head up, seemingly relieved when he saw that Bilbo was clinging to that one barrel. They floated along the river for a while - unlike the last river they had seen, this one did not seem enchanted, so the hobbit was safe.

That is, until the current got stronger and Thorin’s burglar fell off his barrel, into the water. Had the king’s barrel not been thrown toward a rock at that point, he would have jumped in to save Bibo from drowning. Bofur decided to hang on to his own barrel - after all, his chances of survival were probably better if he did so - but mostly because he could not get out with all the violent movement throwing him around, making him rather seasick.

By the time the spinning finally stopped, his barrel fell over, emptying him into the water. He crawled up on land, much like he had done last time he nearly drowned. This time, he was closer to land, and he quickly found himself lying down on it on his belly. Had the toymaker had enough energy left, he would have kissed the grass beneath him, he was so glad to be out of the water.

“My love,” he heard Nori mumble somewhere above him, before he promptly collapsed onto Bofur.

As the thief and his clothes were practically drenched, he was far heavier than normal, making it a bit hard for Bofur to breathe, but he could not care less. They were alive, and they were not captured by goblins, orcs, giant spiders or elves. As Bofur looked to his side, he noted that many of the others had also laid down to catch their breaths - that had been quite a ride.

“Oh no, the elves still have my knife,” Bofur muttered, brows knitted together although nobody could see it, since between Nori and Bofur’s hat, they had his face covered rather well.

“And my axes,” Dwalin rumbled.

“And the book!” Ori cried out, nearly passed out on the ground at this point.

“Who cares about the knife?” Nori mumbled.

“Ye gave it to me, I most certainly do not want to let the elves get their paws all over it!” Bofur growled and turned over to lay on his back instead - Nori shifted to still lay on top of him.

“I could not care less about that blasted knife right now. We’ll get it back some day.”

“Perhaps...if we take Erebor- I mean, **when** we take Erebor, I could throw some gold at them to distract them, then get my knife back,” Bofur joked with a grin.

“Or we could send the burglar back inside to get it for you,” Nori mumbled back.

Bilbo certainly did not like that idea. Not one bit. He let this be known with a very tame attempt at scoffing in Nori’s direction, but as Bilbo was freezing in his cold, wet clothes, it did not go well. He sat down by Thorin’s side, and the king draped his arm over the hobbit as to keep him warm. There was a long silence during which parts of the Company seemed to have fallen asleep, curled up against each other to stay warm.

“Bilbo Baggins,” Thorin started. “You have saved us from all sorts of dangers. You outsmarted trolls, and slipped away from goblins, and stood up to orcs. You killed spiders, and you rescued us from elves.”

“You make it sound better than it-” Bilbo was silenced by Thorin’s hand gently covering his mouth.

“I was not done,” he stated before removing his hand. “You have followed us reluctantly, and although you did not seem to think so, you are one of us. You are one of the Company. You are also the most remarkable person - dwarf or elf or man or hobbit - that I have met.”

“Thorin...” Balin mumbled softly, wondering how exactly this little speech would end.

“Through everything, you put yourself in danger for us. For dwarves you did not know until we rudely barged into your house, your hobbit-hole, and took you away from your calm peaceful life which I know very well that you miss.”

Bilbo nodded solemnly at this.

“And that is why, I hope you will do me the honor of becoming my partner once we take Erebor,” Thorin ended, not even looking at the hobbit - quite possibly out of fright said hobbit would say no.

The whole Company stared as Bilbo began stuttering: “B-but I thought there was courting and I-I-I...mountain? I’d have to live in a mountain! What about my garden? What about my books? I-I- shouldn’t the courting be longer? It’s longer for hobbits, although I’ve never-”

Suddenly he stopped, his whole face radiating of panic.

“If you do not wish to, that is no problem, but as a king I could get you anything you desired, halfling.”

And at that moment, Bilbo Baggins was not a Baggins. He was a Took.

“D-definitely yes. I will be your partner, Thorin Oakenshield.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm know this story is turning reallyyyy cheesy. Sorry about that. Yup.


	41. Chapter 41

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori is scared and Fili finally gets it.

For the first time in a good couple of weeks, Bofur truly felt lucky. Not because they had escaped the elves - that was not luck, that was a clever hobbit - and not because they had survived the escape, which was technically luck, but not what Bofur was thinking of. He felt lucky because the sun was shining, and that was ideal when you’re in the company of twelve drenched dwarves (not including Bofur himself) and a soaking wet hobbit. It was - surprisingly - Dori who had suggested they undressed to let their clothes dry, and so they did.

Thirteen naked dwarves and an unclothed hobbit sat in the grass, some of them sleeping, and some of them shivering. Thankfully, the ones who shivered had a dwarf to keep them warm; Bilbo had Thorin, Ori had Dwalin, and while Bofur was not particularly cold, he would not turn down a chance to sit as close to his thief as he possibly could.

“Never letting you go again. Not ever,” Nori mumbled, unbraiding Bofur’s hair, one leg on each side of his One and Bofur’s back against his chest.

“Locking me up when we take the mountain, are ye?” the toymaker laughed.

Ori reminded them that “taking the mountain will probably not happen, now that we don’t have any weapons”.

“Even if we did, I would not let either of you-” Nori glared at both of his brothers, and then at Bofur. “-even remotely close to that mountain. Far too dangerous.” Somewhere in the back of his mind he remembered what Fili had said before he had crushed the prince’s nose - that thing about locking up his dear toymaker like a possession.

Bofur let out a laugh, despite Nori’s serious tone. “Right, like ye could stop me.”

Nori wrapped his arms tightly around the toymaker. “I’m not losing you. I’m not letting a dragon kill you. I’d rather die myself.”

Sinking down in Nori’s arms, Bofur leaned backwards enough to look up at his thief. “Don’t talk like tha’. We’re both going into the mountain, and we’re both surviving it. As will yer brothers, and my brother, and my cousin. The whole Company will live. Ye got that?” he said with a wide grin, as cheery as ever.

Nori sighed heavily and nodded slowly, but he did not agree. He knew they would probably not survive the quest. He knew it was hopeless, and that was why he had fought to not accept that Bofur was his One. It had of course started back in Ered Luin, where he had met the toymaker while running from the guards (something that Nori did rather often), but before the quest for Erebor, Nori had thought it was only a harmless crush, as though he was still a dwarfling - after all, that was usually how it was for some time at first (sometimes years), before their dwarven brain would scream out “ _that’s your One_ ”.

He had jumped over a wall and landed on top of Bofur, knocking him over. Bofur had merely stared at the thief who had landed on him as Nori had motioned to be quiet.

“What did ye do?” Bofur had whispered once Nori removed his hand from the toymaker’s mouth, allowing him to speak again.

“Just...stole something,” Nori had responded - he did not only mean why he had been chased by the guards, but also that he stole the gold that Bofur had on him.

Bofur was the first person Nori had ever stolen from who had made Nori feel guilty and return the gold to it’s owner.

“Have a nice day,” Bofur had said with a grin as he turned to walk away. “Good luck with the guards.”

Nori had found himself searching for the kind toymaker when chased by the guards, as though he could trust Bofur to keep him hidden - it really did not take long before he came to Bofur even when not chased. The fear Nori had first felt when he realized Bofur was coming along on the quest was greater than words could ever describe, and that is also when he started pushing away his feelings. He was already at risk of losing both of his brothers, but realizing his One was there to die along with them - Nori would have had little to live for if they all died.

No, if anyone was going into that mountain it would be Nori himself. And Dwalin, and Gloin, and Oin, and perhaps Bifur, if Bofur would allow it. The rest would stay outside, safely. Although, the whole point of bringing a burglar was that he would go inside, so Nori figured he could let Bilbo go as well. But nobody else. Everyone else was too young, too important, or too dear to him. The king did not approve of that, of course, and the whole Company found this out when their clothes had dried enough for them to get dressed again, and Nori had sneaked up to Thorin to mention it.

“Absolutely not! I will not send others to do my work for me, king as I may be.”

“But you’re supposed to send Bilbo in first anyways, am I wrong? So he can get a look and perhaps confuse the dragon, like Gandalf had said,” Nori mumbled, actually a bit ashamed that the king had rejected his idea so loudly for everyone to hear.

At this, Thorin automatically shot a look in Bilbo’s direction. “He...I have not decided what to do yet.”

The hobbit was stubborn, and just as protective of Thorin as Thorin was of him. This much was clear to most of the Company. Bofur’s gentle hands guiding Nori away was what kept Nori from opening his mouth again.

“We should go,” Bilbo mumbled. “It’ll be night soon.”

Bofur kept his eyes on Nori as they moved along the river, his loving look sending shivers up Nori’s spine whenever the thief looked up - most of the time, he kept his gaze locked on the path, well aware of the blonde prince following close behind. After a good half hour of walking, Nori simply shoved Bofur in front of himself, blocking the view for Fili.

“Not yours, so stop staring,” Nori hissed, one hand on Bofur’s hand to keep him walking while Nori himself glared over his shoulder.

“Rude,” Fili huffed in response as he crossed his arms.

Nori glared. “Have you forgotten the time when I broke your nose?”

Bofur spun around, continuing to walk backwards, both hands tugging Nori along. “Have ye forgotten the time I ran away, fought orcs and almost drowned?”

“I’m trying to make sure the prince keeps his eyes to himself is all,” Nori mumbled with a frown.

“You’re talking about me like I’m not here...” Fili grumbled behind the thief.

This time it was Bofur who glared at the prince. “Lad, please.”

Even though Kili sped up and jumped alongside his brother to cheer him up, Fili spent the rest of the walk doing what Bofur would refer to as ‘sulking’, because it had just now clicked for him; just because he was the prince, that does not mean he could have anyone he wanted. Just because he was the heir, that did not mean he would be with his One.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nori just wants everyone to be safe! Note that he didn't want to send Fili into the mountain either, even though that little brat keeps trying to steal Bofur away.
> 
> Feel free to leave a comment! Leave a comment on ALL the chapters! Haha, I like getting comments, they're fun to respond to~


	42. Chapter 42

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Company sleeps on the ground, and Fili gets his heart crushed for the hundredth time.

Despite the Company’s best efforts, it became night before they could reach Lake-town, the village of Men closest to the Lonely Mountain. Of course, that could be because Thorin insisted they would go away from the water, and then they simply lost their way. With no fire to keep them warm, the thirteen dwarves and their burglar instead curled up close to each other, as to keep everyone warm.

The whole Company built up their sleeping positions around Bofur and Nori, as they were the first to lay down, Nori with his arms tightly wrapped around Bofur’s torso. Although Fili would have loved to sleep next to Bofur, he did not have the strength to do so, as he did not wish to start an argument at this time. Not to mention Bifur had taken that place already, sleeping on his stomach by his cousins side. Bombur laid knocked out by Bifur, and on the other side of him Oin and Gloin had cuddled up closer than they would like to admit. On Nori’s side slept Dori, with both of his brothers almost on the older dwarf, one arm hooked around each brother. Ori slept soundly with his head nuzzled in against Dwalin’s neck, and Balin slept with his back pressed against his brother. At the end slept the burglar and the Line of Durin, in a big pile of dwarves with a hobbit’s head sticking out near Thorin’s shoulder.

It took Bofur hours to sleep. He gazed at the stars, feeling Nori’s body relax next to him and eventually falling asleep, Bifur snoring lightly on the other side. Bofur could not sleep. Instead, he held Nori close, frowning as he thought about Fili and how to make the prince stop. Perhaps Kili could be of any help? Nori was definitely not getting involved again, Bofur decided.

When he woke up, he couldn’t remember if he had thought of a solution. He laid on the ground while Bilbo tried to shove the dwarves off him - it seemed not only Fili and Kili had managed to roll over the poor burglar in the night.

“Let’s get going then, not much food around here,” Balin said cheerfully as he made sure everyone woke up, his stomach rumbling as he did so.

Resuming the walking was hard, and they walked very slowly, most of the dwarves feeling rather drained. It took them no more than two hours to find Lake-Town, as Balin was now the one who led them, Thorin walking closely behind. While Thorin had never been very fond of any race but dwarves (hobbits included, as he only ever liked one hobbit), he marched into the town alongside Balin, letting the older dwarf do the talking (or begging) that was needed for them to get food.

“We have no coin, I am afraid,” Balin started.

Not a very convincing start, Bofur thought.

“We are here to kill the dragon.”

Better; the Master of Lake-town seemed interested at this.

“We ask for food and rest and any weapons you are willing to spare, and when we retake Erebor, you will get back more than its worth in gold.”

Now, while Balin continued to talk after this, the Master seemed rather interested at this point. He decided to let the dwarves - he did not notice the presence of a hobbit - stay in a house nearby, from which he rudely sent away a family of humans simply to give the Company somewhere to stay. Bofur disliked the fact that others had to leave for his sake, as did Bilbo. The rest were too hungry or too tired to care.

In fact, Kili passed out on his plate once they had been served food in the house where they were to stay - “Stay as long as you like, until you are ready for the dragon,” the Master of Lake-town had said - and snored loudly as the rest finished their food. Ori ate until he thought he would be sick, and Nori ate very little.

“I’m going to make another attempt at talking to the prince,” Bofur whispered when Nori decided he’d had enough food and went to look for a room to sleep in, out of the many various rooms in the house.

“Be careful,” Nori mumbled.

“I doubt he’ll hurt me, but I promise.”

The prince - who had previously been occupied with his food - needed no more than a look from the toymaker in order to follow him to the next room. The tired frown on his face was physically hurting Bofur, who so dearly wished he didn’t have to hurt anyone.

“I know what you’re going to say,” Fili started.

“Aye, ye do, and ye need to keep it in mind,” Bofur mumbled, leaning in closer to the other dwarf as to not have to speak loudly.

Fili looked up, something defiant in his eyes despite the frown. “I can’t help it. I love you.”

“Trust me, lad, I know how it hurts to not have your feelings be returned, but ye need to stop.” Bofur frowned at his own words, but tried to smile again for the next sentence. “I’m halfway sure there must be some sort of law to keep ye from stealing away another persons One.”

Fili choked up, Bofur could tell, and the prince said no more. He simply looked at the floor beneath his feet, as if defeated. The toymaker, ever so kind to those in need, could not help but gently wrap Fili up in a close hug. Softly reaching up to stroke the prince’s hair, Bofur closed his eyes - he wished this had not been necessary, of course.

“I love you, and that is why I will stop,” Fili mumbled. “At least for now...”

Settling for what he could get (like he had so many times before), Bofur simply pulled back, reached up to kiss the prince’s forehead softly - this brought a small smile back to Fili’s face - and turned to leave. He did not consider what Nori would think of it, but he had no plans on hiding it, for he had done nothing wrong. He had simply done his best to not hurt anyone, Bofur thought to himself, as he slipped under the covers in Nori’s bed, the thief’s naked body very welcome against Bofur’s slightly more dressed one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting lazy...and I hate it....and procrastination and oh god.


	43. Chapter 43

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori reveals that he has a sense of what is fair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another sexy chapter, yessss.

Bofur woke up first, his whole body aching from the time he spent locked up and the walking that followed and the sleeping on the bare ground they had done last night. He was alright with things being a bit less comfortable, because he was used to it, but his body seemed to be screaming at him to stop. A careful stretch had woken Nori up as well, the thief jolting up from the bed, only to relax completely again and lay back down. He then rolled over, now being on top of his toymaker, and closed his eyes as if he was going back to sleep again.

“Mornin’, love,” Bofur mumbled.

Nori chuckled softly at this, and gently kissed the toymaker’s neck. “Handsome toymaker, with me in a bed, alone in a room...shame the elves stole the oil from me.”

Bofur grinned widely at this, before shifting, rolling to the side to pin Nori down under him. “Shame indeed.”

Soon enough, Bofur laid naked underneath the thief - Bofur was not sure how it had happened, he only remembered a blur of kisses. Said thief continued the kissing, mostly around Bofur’s jaw and neck, nibbling at his collarbones, and reached his hand down between them. As Nori got a gentle grip on Bofur’s manhood, the latter began to shamelessly grind against Nori’s hand.

“Remember our little episode in the forest, when I made you get on your knees?” Nori whispered, his free hand running over Bofur’s chest, tracing gently along the scar Bofur had gotten during their time at Beorn’s.

“Aye, I do,” Bofur breathed.

“Remember how I didn’t give any back?” Nori grinned mischievously.

Bofur could only breathe heavily at this, eyes closed and a blush spreading on his face as Nori shuffled backwards, away from his face and closer to his feet.

“I think it’s time to repay you, my dear toymaker,” was what Bofur heard from under the covers, a moment before the enjoyable sensation in his crotch became even stronger.

As Nori was under the covers, and Bofur’s eyes were closed tightly in pleasure, Bofur was unable to see what exactly was going on, but judging from the soft, warm wetness around his manhood he could safely assume Nori’s mouth was around his cock. He gasped and grabbed at the sheets of the bed as the tip hit what he figured was the back of Nori’s mouth - he did all he could to not bury his hands in the thief’s hair, unsure of Nori’s reaction to it (and he certainly did not want to risk anything now).

“Mhh, Nori, “ he moaned, wanting to let the other know just how much he loved it.

Nori pulled back from Bofur a little, swirling his tongue over the tip of Bofur’s cock before taking it all in his mouth again. The thief had to hold down his toymakers hips firmly with one hand to keep him from thrusting upward.

“Ah, Nori,” he breathed again as he finished into Nori’s mouth.

“Nori!” hissed a voice from the doorway. “For the love of Aulë, what are you doing?”

Bofur’s face turned red. Dori knew very well what his younger brother was doing. He knew that the lump under the covers was Nori, and he knew that he was probably not entitled to interrupting them, but he did anyways. Dori had, to begin with, been a bit concerned that Nori would simply use the cheery toymaker as he wished, and while it seemed Bofur got his fair share of pleasure, Dori was still concerned.

“Oh go away, you old fusspot,” Nori hissed back, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he jumped up from the covers, throwing them to the side.

Bofur blushed even more as Nori did this, because they were now both naked, and Dori was still glaring at the thief with his arms crossed. Nori didn’t seem to care, but Bofur scrambled to collect the covers and hide most of himself under them.

“Irresponsible, what if Ori had been the one to open the door?” Dori grumbled.

“Then he would have left when I told him to, unlike you,” Nori said, crossing his own arms, looking very unimpressed.

After that, there was a long silence, as Dori held his breath - looking almost like if he was trying to make himself explode - and Bofur shifted awkwardly on the bed, still naked. Nori calmly stared into his brother’s eyes, a small smirk appearing on his face. Eventually, he took a few steps closer to Dori, grabbed him by the shoulders and pushed him away from the room so he could close the door.

“That turned out well enough,” Nori laughed as he turned to Bofur. “Honestly, that shocked me so badly I’m not even turned on anymore, which is good I guess, since this was me repaying you.”

“I...uhh...” Bofur mumbled, completely unable to think of a proper sentence.

“Cat got your tongue, darling? I think it’s about time we got dressed.” Nori picked up the pile of clothes on the floor, throwing it onto the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People, I'm really sorry for the fact that I keep hurting Fili! I promise, I do want it to end, but I still need him to be a stubborn Durin. Just a while longer. I'm going to try and make him happy in the end.
> 
> Also, headcanon: Nori sleeps naked. Only exception in when sleeping outdoors, because it's not practical. But when in a house, he sleeps butt naked, yup. And he has absolutely no shame in front of his brothers - why should he, it's not like his naked body is a secret?


	44. Chapter 44

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dori is an old fusspot, but he only wants what's best for his brothers. And for Bofur.

Bilbo was in an excellent mood. He made tea, enough for most of the Company even though he knew few of them would drink it. He covered the table in bread and butter and meats and cheeses - everything he could find in the house, anything the dwarves could possibly want to eat. Dori arrived first, Ori following close behind (despite Ori’s protesting, Dori had dragged him out of bed after a night of making sure the scribe stayed in his own bed, alone). The latter looked as though he could sleep for a couple more hours, but he obediently sat down at the table and accepted the cup of tea Dori handed him.

Then came Balin, followed by Thorin and Oin. None of them had any more than tunic and trousers on. Oin sat down at the table and begun to eat, while Balin decided to strike up a conversation with Dori. Thorin stalked over to the hobbit, still standing by the stove, and gave him a kiss, first one on his lips, then one on his forehead. He kept his arm around Bilbo as they both leaned against the kitchen counter.

Not long after the king came Dwalin, whose lips immediately curved upwards in a grin when he saw Ori at the table. Ori looked back at the warrior with a warm smile as Dwalin sat down beside him. Bombur and Bifur stumbled in merely seconds after, and it was unclear who was pulling the other along - they were both eager to sit down and have breakfast. The two princes arrived in a similar manner, although it was more obvious that Kili was the one who had decided to wake his brother so they could both get food.

When Gloin slowly made his way into the kitchen, he muttered “why are you all so noisy? Can’t you keep it down when there are dwarves sleeping around here?”

“Speaking of dwarves sleeping...” Dori mumbled, getting up from his chair and leaving the kitchen.

The whole kitchen went quiet. Well, nearly quiet, as Gloin took bets - were Nori and Bofur having sex, or were they really just sleeping? Even though Ori blushed extremely hard as he spoke up, he bet a coin on the first option. Dwalin chuckled silently as he agreed, while the princelings did not. Bifur signed that they were almost definitely doing something nasty, and while Bombur found it funny, he betted against it. Bilbo wanted to believe Bofur would not do such a thing, but Thorin reminded his hobbit that it was Nori in there with him (of course they had all figured out the thief and the toymaker had slept in the same room at least) and the king ended up betting against it.

It really did not take long for Dori to come back, lips pursed as he sat back down and calmly served himself another cup of tea. He did not say anything, but soon, Nori walked in, a proud spring in his step. Bofur followed, hatless and still blushing a bit. He certainly wished he was wearing his hat, so he could pull it down over his eyes and not see the others stare at him like that.

Nori elbowed him softly. “Nothing to be embarrassed about - you got laid, they didn’t. They should be jealous,” he whispered with a grin (naturally, everyone heard it).

With this, Bofur straightened up significantly before taking a seat next to his cousin. He ignored the hobbit’s eyes burning into the back of his head, and the king’s amused smile behind him. The look in Nori’s eyes was that of a predator as he reached over the table for various things, in the process spilling out juice on Dwalin’s tunic, only laughing as he did.

Ori, watchful, curious young Ori, was the only one who noticed the small smirk in the corner of the mouth of his oldest brother as Dwalin pushed Nori off the table, and onto Bofur. Most of the Company laughed, Bofur and Nori probably more than anyone else, except Dori, angry, fussy old Dori, who allowed himself to smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A really short chapter, sorry about that. I think I write such short chapters because I - **I** \- have such trouble concentrating on other people's stories if they're too long. Or if the writing is too "packed together". 
> 
> Also, I don't know what my timeline is doing: in one chapter, weeks pass (being captives in Mirkwood), and the first/second day in Lake-Town are like...five chapters total...


	45. Chapter 45

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dwarves go shopping for weapons.

Bofur really had no idea how Balin had done it, but he had. Clearly, Balin was very persuading at times - surely this was why Thorin had brought him along. The gold in Bofur’s pocket was all thanks to Balin, he thought as he looked around in the market. A loan, Balin had said.

“What about that?” Nori mumbled, pointing to a rather curved sword - he was suggesting it for Bofur, as Nori himself had already replaced most of his missing knives.

Nori had pulled Bofur to a smith, eager to replace their missing weapons. While a human smith was hardly as good as a dwarven one (Thorin was clearly tempted to take over for the smith they were currently staring at), it was certainly better than nothing.

“Uh, no, I think I want something bigger,” Bofur answered with a small sigh.

“Bigger, eh? I’ll show you something big when we get back to the house.” Nori winked.

“I meant heavier, but alright, can’t exactly say yer lying when ye say big,” Bofur said with a chuckle.

Nori merely raised his eyebrow at this, a smirk playing on his lips as he turned away to look at the swords behind him, broader and certainly heavier.

“No, no, I mean...something like my mattock,” Bofur mumbled, grabbing in the air as if he was holding his trusty mattock. “Not a sword.”

“A warhammer, then?” Nori suggested.

Bofur shrugged. “Why not, I guess that’s as close as I’ll get.”

The two of them then caught sight of Dwalin handing Ori the largest warhammer either one of them had ever seen, and the scribe struggled to hold it up - Nori was fairly surprised at this, as his younger brother was nearly as strong as the oldest of the three. Perhaps he would have been able to hold it if he hadn’t eaten so little while captured by elves.

“Not that one,” Bofur laughed.

Bofur was hardly the only one to be a bit picky regarding his weapon - Thorin found that none of the human-made swords could slice as well as Orcrist had been able to, and Kili missed his bow, the one he had owned for so many years. Dwalin was furious at the elves, both for his axes - Grasper and Keeper - and for his scribe’s book (Ori was temporarily using a new one, which Dori had gotten for him at the market with some of the coin that Balin had managed to loan for them).

“I think this will do,” Bofur decided as he found one that was only a slight bit lighter than the mattock.

“Suits you.” Nori tilted his head and smirked again - oh, how Bofur loved that smirk.

“Well I’m only keeping it until I can get the mattock back from the elves.” Bofur glared at the new warhammer in his hands. “Assuming I’ll get it back at all. If not, I’ll get a new one, but still a mattock. Mattocks are good.”

“Why are you so set on a mattock? You could get any weapon when we retake Erebor, you’d have more gold than most people have ever seen in their lives,” Nori chuckled.

“Ye keep calling me a toymaker - which, yes, I am - but I’m also a miner. And that mattock is...familiar to my hands, it’s weight feels natural. The warhammer feels wrong, but a sword would be even worse,” Bofur said with a smile, and the thief wasn’t sure whether this was Bofur joking around, or if he was being serious.

Nori put his arm around Bofur’s neck and leaned in a bit. “Then I’ll buy you a hundred mattocks when we take back Erebor. Anything to make you happy.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It really did hurt me to leave Grasper and Keeper with the elves (as well as Orcrist) but I kind of had to, didn't I? It would be terribly uncomfortable to travel by barrel with a weapon in the barrel with you. 
> 
> Also, I'm very impatient and ridiculous: I can hardly wait to upload the "Nori-is-a-dumbass" chapter and the "I'm-so-sorry" chapters that follow.


	46. Chapter 46

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori doesn't know how to behave properly - it's either punching or gambling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uploading an extra chapter for today as "celebration" that my IRL friend found the fanfic. I don't know what to do. What do I do? _I'm a bit embarrassed._ (I mean it contains smut okay?)

The gleaming gem on the table had made Fili stare - his first thought was giving it to Bofur, but he then remembered what he had said, that he had promised to stop trying so hard. He had stopped himself from buying it, and followed his brother to get a new bow. The two princes had then gone straight back to the house, and there, Fili was certain his heart broke loudly enough for everyone to hear, as he saw the toymaker turning and twisting that same gem he had seen before. His heart did not break because of this very scene, but because he knew it was a gift from Nori.

“Made me think of you,” Nori mumbled, eyes following Bofur’s movements as he inspected the gem with great care.

Fili groaned, turning to leave the house again.

“Brother, where are you going?” Kili said, awfully loud if one would ask any of the other dwarves about it. “Fili?”

The blonde prince was already out the door, and Kili jolted after him, but his brother had already disappeared.

“Fili? Come back!” he shouted, still one foot in the house. “Aulë, what are you doing!?”

Bofur jumped up, putting the gem down on the kitchen table. “Lad? Something wrong?”

“Fili ran away,” Kili said, his expression matching his next words: “I can’t believe it!”

Nori shot Bofur a look - they both knew why. Sighing, Nori got up from the table, and while both Kili and Bofur tried to stop him, he marched right through the door and turned right. Sprinting after the prince, he caught sight of Fili’s blonde hair in the crowd, soon turning into an alley. Nori followed until Fili was outside of Lake-town, darting between the trees. At that point, the thief lunged forward got a hold of the prince’s jerkin, pulling him back and down on the ground.

“Are you going to kill me?” Fili screamed, his eyes wide open.

“Kill you? Don’t be ridiculous, boy,” Nori hissed back, dragging Fili along the ground toward Lake-town.

“I’m trying, you know, but I can’t, it’s too hard,” Fili shouted - he didn’t know why he was shouting.

Nori said nothing as he dragged the prince along, said prince trying to worm his way out of Nori’s grip. Fili felt terror paralyze his whole body when Nori, instead of turning left toward the house, went right, further into the town. Nori just smirked - Fili’s reaction was so amusing to him, mainly because none of those fears would come true. At least not on this particular day.

Meanwhile, Bofur could do little but sit and wait until Nori came back. He had followed his thief out the door, hoping to catch up with him, but had lost him within a few seconds - he was simply not as fast as Nori was. If Kili had a proper beard, he would be tearing it out by now out of concern for his brother.

“What if he’s in trouble?”

“Oh, he’ll be in trouble when Nori gets to him, no doubt,” Bofur mumbled, equally concerned.

Thorin was pacing around the house, furious with Nori. Ori and Dori were practically clinging to Thorin’s arms, begging him to go easy on their brother, but the king did not say anything to either of them. Once the sun had set, Dwalin mumbled that they had probably both killed each other by now. Bilbo offered to go out and look for them, and Bofur loudly agreed. Neither of them went anywhere though, as Bifur and Bombur both held Bofur in place, and Thorin kept a tight grip of Bilbo’s shoulder.

Eventually, the prince and the thief showed up, when half the Company had already managed to fall asleep waiting for them. The king motioned toward Nori, but stopped just as quickly when he realized that Nori was holding Fili up, an arm around the prince’s shoulder, and Fili’s arm around Nori’s own shoulder.

“We...had a-a...a drink,” Fili slurred.

“More like five,” Nori mumbled with a very pleased smirk - he did not seem half as drunk as Fili, but he was swaying a bit on the doorstep much like the younger one.

“Ooooor ten,” Fili laughed.

“Ye...drank him under the table?” Bofur asked with one eyebrow raised as Nori let go of the prince and stumbled toward the toymaker.

“Drinking competition, I won.” Nori winked. “Hardly a competition, I knew I could handle my ale better than our dear handsome prince.”

Nori stumbled a bit more, and Bofur reached out to catch him - right behind Nori, Fili fell face first onto the floor.

“That’s why you were the prize for the winner,” Nori mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nori...no. Nori, what are you even...?


	47. Chapter 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bofur may or may not be a very wanted dwarf.

As Bofur undressed Nori and gently helped him up on the bed, he realized that he had never been so angry with Nori - of course, he had never been angry with Nori before. Though, even when he felt the anger flood him, he was as calm as ever, and he did not know if that meant he was actually angry or if he just thought he was. What was the difference? He closed the door behind him despite Nori’s sleepy cries - “where are you going? Isn’t it bedtime? Come back!” - and headed for the kitchen. He was rather happy to find that Bilbo was still up, considering Bofur did not want to be alone at the moment.

When he sat down, and Bilbo handed him a cup of tea, he was unsure what to say though. It was as though all his words got stuck.

“So...drinking competition,” the hobbit said, scratching the side of his head. “Usual way to decide who gets the, err...who gets to be with their One? If...they share the same One?”

“No,” Bofur mumbled into the cup of tea.

“Nori just...used you as a, what, prize for Fili if he could drink more than him?” Bilbo sat down at the table beside Bofur at this. “That sounds horrible.”

“Aye, it kind of does,” Bofur said with a small smile and a frown.

“Ah, I...how do you feel about the whole thing?” Bilbo moved his chair a bit closer.

“I don’t know,” Bofur whispered as he laid his head down on the table, one arm beneath it as padding.

Bilbo struggled to find something to say as he reached up to pat Bofur’s back, but his words had escaped him. As Bofur fell asleep on the table - despite the fact that he so often had trouble to sleep - his body curved toward Bilbo, despite still sitting on the chair. It seemed that Bilbo did not mind, as he rested his head against the table as well, and curved against the dwarven warmth beside him.

Bofur woke up to a hobbit using his arm as a pillow, and a king emptying a cold cup of tea into Bofur’s tunic.

“Ah! Mahal, what are ye doing?” the toymaker shouted as he shot up from the chair, causing Bilbo to fall onto the floor. “Sorry, Bilbo!”

Thorin shot him a nasty look as he extended his hand to his hobbit to help him up. “You know why I did that.”

Bofur knelt to help Bilbo as well, no longer looking at Thorin. “I’m sorry, Bilbo, he startled me.”

“Ah, that’s quite alright, Bofur, I’m fine,” Bilbo mumbled as he got up on his feet, Thorin grabbing his left arm and Bofur gently pulling him up by the right one.

“Go check on your thief,” Thorin said, glaring at Bofur.

But the hobbit then stepped away from the king, placing himself in front of Bofur. “Excuse me, don’t talk like that to him,” Bilbo snapped (still remembering his manners).

Thorin looked very shocked at this, and then had to remind himself that hobbits were not like dwarves - had they been, Bilbo would perhaps have understood Thorin’s protectiveness of his One. The way Thorin saw it, Bofur had tried to steal the hobbit away from him, so he did the first thing that had come to mind. Bofur understood this, but Bilbo did not, so the former simply patted Bilbo on the shoulder and left the room with a kind smile.

“I didn’t mean to...” Thorin mumbled, avoiding Bilbo’s intense glare.

“Damn straight you didn’t,” Bilbo said sternly and jumped forward to wrap his arms around the king.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember how hobbits aren't like dwarves? Bilbo may not be hitting on Bofur, but he doesn't think that sleeping next to him, all curled up against him (as curled up at he can be when on a chair) would seem odd. Thorin thinks so though. Dwarves are of course a bit...protective and jealous. Hobbits are not, they will gladly share their affections with everyone.
> 
> In short, Thorin might just be in trouble considering he's a jealous dwarf and Bilbo's an affectionate hobbit.


	48. Chapter 48

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori knows he's been stupid. He knows he did wrong, and he makes sure the whole Company knows too.

Nori woke up to a throbbing headache. As he stretched a bit, regret came at him, much like a kick to the face. No, actually, that must have been the floor, Nori thought as he reached up and felt the blood streaming out from his nose.

“Bofur?” he whispered with a hoarse voice that sounded nothing like his own.

He rolled over on his back, and yes, he was indeed on the floor. He sat up, and there was the regret again. Why had he decided to have a drinking competition over his One? Nori thought to himself that he must have been drunk even before he did so, because it was the worst idea he had ever had.

“Bofur?” he tried again, but when he crawled back up on the bed he realized that Bofur was not there.

Nori managed to roll off the bed again, this time landing on his feet. He didn’t bother putting clothes on, he simply pulled the covers off the bed and wrapped them around himself as he stumbled toward the door.

“Bofur?” he shouted as he made his way through the hallway, to find Thorin and Bilbo staring at him from the kitchen door, both of them with their eyebrows up high.

Thorin looked like he didn’t know whether to shout at Nori or ask what he was wearing. “What are you..”

“I’m naked under this,” was all Nori managed to say, his voice still hoarse, before running through another corridor in search of Bofur.

His shouting woke Dwalin, who decided to stick his head out into the corridor - Nori nearly ran right into said head.

“What are yeh doing?” Dwalin spat as Nori did a ridiculous twirl to avoid crashing into him.

Nori then stopped, stared at the warrior for a moment, stared down at himself - the covers were wrapped around his crotch and chest, a pair of hairy legs sticking out and his lean arms keeping the covers up - and then back up at Dwalin before continuing his running through the house. Up the stairs, into every room, but Bofur was nowhere to be found.

That is, until Nori suddenly ran right into him when he turned to leave Dori’s bedroom which he had just been searching in. Bofur had heard the shouting from where he had rested on a couch on the upper floor, and eventually went to see why Nori was screaming for him. Nori, not having expected Bofur to stand there, managed to fall onto the floor and bringing the toymaker with him in the process.

There was a moment of silence during which Nori was silently begging for forgiveness - he could not know for sure, but he figured his eyes were practically glowing with regret and desperation by now. “Are you mad at me?”

“Aye,” Bofur mumbled.

“I’m sorry, I really am,” Nori whispered hoarsely as he sat up a bit more on his knees, letting the covers slide down a bit.

Nori did not move at all, as if he was scared Bofur would run away if he did. Bofur himself moved though, reaching both hands up to Nori’s face and leaning forward, letting his forehead rest against the thief’s.

“I don’t think I can stay mad at ye though.”

Dori had at this point decided to just turn his back and go back to sleep, completely ignoring the scene taking place in his doorway.

“Now look who’s bein’ ridiculous,” Bofur mumbled, eyes closed and his forehead still touching Nori’s.

“What...” Nori’s voice was cut off before his could finish.

“Are ye naked under that?” Bofur laughed, referring to the covers currently laying across Nori’s lap, covering little except his legs - neatly folded in under his body - and crotch at this point.

Nori pulled back, looking down at himself. “Aye. I’m trying to be serious here. I’m really sorry, I’m an idiot, but I love you. Do you forgive me?”

“It’s hard to take ye seriously when yer essentially naked in the hallway,” Bofur laughed, hands leaving Nori’s face.

“No, no, do you forgive me?” Nori leaned forward, closer to Bofur, desperate to be closer to the toymaker again.

Bofur ignored Nori’s words as he stood up and reached out a hand to the thief. “Come on, let’s get ye back to bed.”

Nori trembled a bit as Bofur helped him up. Bofur wrapped him in the covers again, as Nori completely forgot to hold on to them. The thief could only hang his head in shame as he was led back to the room - in all the years of stealing things and occasionally getting caught by guards, he had never felt so much regret for something he had done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nori - much like Dori - never thought he could love anyone more than he loved his brothers (especially Ori). Ori and Bofur are the only two who have ever made him feel properly guilty over something. The difference between his brother and his One is that he doesn't want his brother in his bed, and he never tried to give away his brother over a drinking competition.


	49. Chapter 49

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwarven cousins and wailing thieves.

Bofur snapped back into reality when Bifur sat down next to him by the table. Once again, he had resorted to sleeping with his head on the kitchen table, but this time there was no king to pour tea on him (well, there was, but said king stood leaned against the kitchen counter, still a bit ashamed after what he did last time Bofur rested against the table).

“ _Sorry_ ,” Bifur mumbled.

Bofur was not sure what for. “Don’t be, I’m all good,” the toymaker mumbled with his usual smile.

“ _Cut off his fingers_?” Bifur asked, with handsigns adding “do you want me to?”

“No! Aulë, no. He needs those,” Bofur laughed, not sure whether to fear for his thief’s well being or be happy that his cousin was trying his best to protect him.

“ _I promised to_.” There was a strange sound in the back of Bifur’s throat, much like a hoarse laugh, one Bofur had not heard in a long time.

Bilbo, curious what could have the two toymakers laughing so much, leaned over the table and mumbled to Bofur: “what is he saying?”

“He’s offering to cut off Nori’s fingers for what he’s done,” Bofur said, chuckling at the thought.

“That’s horrible!” Bilbo gasped.

“Ye say that about a lot of things, Mister Baggins.”

Bofur smiled kindly at this, and put his hand over Bilbo’s (not thinking what it would mean to Thorin) to give it a comforting squeeze. Ori squirmed uncomfortably outside the kitchen, having heard the whole conversation - he wanted to spare his brother’s fingers, of course, and he was quite concerned that Bifur would cut them off despite Bofur saying no. So he stepped into the kitchen, and his eyes focused on the back of Bifur’s head.

“Please Mister Bifur, don’t cut off Nori’s fingers,” he squealed.

Bifur and Bofur both turned, frowning at the scholar behind them, before Bifur once again started laughing. Bilbo smiled kindly at Ori, and Thorin had not noticed the young dwarf at all, for he was too busy being relieved that Bofur withdrew his hand.

“Don’t ye worry, lad, Nori won’t lose any fingers as long as I’m here,” Bofur said. “It’s just that Bifur made him promise to be good, or he’d, err, hurt Nori. I won’t let him though.”

Ori let out a deep breath and his shoulders slumped down a bit, but he smiled hesitantly. “Does that mean you forgive him?”

“Ah...maybe in a little while,” Bofur said, looking away from Ori this time - he could not quite find the strength to look the scribe in the eyes.

“Mister Bofur, it’s past noon and he won’t get out of bed. Or, well, when Dori tried to pull him off the bed, he rolled down on the floor and in **under** the bed. He won’t come out until you forgive him, he says, and he won’t eat any food we bring him,” Ori pleaded.

“ _He sent you_?” Bifur grunted, causing Ori to jump back a bit.

“It’s past noon?” Bofur said with a frown and looked out the window.

“No, no, Nori can’t just guilt trip Bofur into forgiving him,” Bilbo explained, wrinkling his nose. “That’s not how it works.”

“He can, he definitely can,” Bofur mumbled. “I certainly feel guilty so I guess all that’s left is forgiving him.” He got up from the chair, and Bifur pulled him back down with a firm grip on his shoulder.

“Dwalin could just lift up the bed and drag him out, that wouldn’t be so hard?” Thorin suggested.

Ori shook his head. “We tried that. Nori kicked him in the leg. He said he’d aim higher next time.”

Bofur tried to stand up once more, but his cousin was there to pull him back down again. “Let me go forgive him then.”

“ _Not yet_.”

The toymaker sighed, glaring at his cousin. His cousin glared right back at him, and Ori still stood in the door opening, waiting for Bofur. It was at this point that Dori stomped into the kitchen, hands on his hips. He gave Ori a quick look and then glared at Bofur.

“He’s **wailing** now. Sounds like a dying cat, if you ask me,” he huffed.

“Well, I’m trying to go talk to him but my dear cousin won’t let me.” Bofur gestured toward Bifur.

“I’m not saying he deserves your forgiveness - this is his own fault - but frankly, we can’t have him wailing under a bed all day.”

Bifur reluctantly let Bofur stand up this time, and they followed Bofur to the bedroom where most of the Company already stood. Dwalin seemed rather amused by the whole thing, despite the fact that he had been kicked in the leg, and Kili muttered something about Fili being too hungover to come downstairs when Bofur passed him, heading for the bed. Bofur knelt, and one of Nori’s hands shot out from under the bed: Bifur stepped on them, causing Nori to wail even louder than before (it also caused Gloin to burst out laughing).

“That was a bit unnecessary, don’t ye think?” Bofur frowned at his cousin before turning back to the bed. “Nori? Ye need to come out now.”

“Can’t. Not until you forgive me.”

Bofur calmly tried again. “No, come out, ye’ve been hiding under there for too long already.”

“Well you didn’t forgive me yet,” Nori whined from under the bed.

“Aye, because I’m not some possession ye can give away over a **drinking competition**.” Bofur leaned down to look in under the bed to see Nori crawling backwards. “When someone wants yer One, ye don’t break their nose for it, nor do ye buy them drinks and promise to give me away if he can drink more than ye! That’s a horrible thing to do.”

“I know, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand how to make it better again,” Nori whispered.

“Neither do I,” Bofur muttered, and as grumpy as he sounded he decided to lay down and crawl in under the bed, getting as much privacy with Nori as he could (considering the whole room was filled with dwarves). “Wait, are ye still naked?”

“...maybe.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bofur still loves his thief so incredibly much, but look, it's only been maybe 12 hours (in the story, I mean) since said thief hurt him. Bofur is such a terribly caring dwarf though, he'll forgive Nori in no time!


	50. Chapter 50

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori wants to be forgiven, Bofur is weak-willed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time updating from my brand new iPad, hope nothing gets wacky because of that!  
> Also, I found this awesome list of character flaws ( http://amandaonwriting.tumblr.com/post/43980065606 ) and realized half of them describe Nori the way I write him. Particularly "self-martyr".

Nori did not stay under the bed all day. He agreed to come out when it was time for dinner, but he ate very little. He then disappeared for a while, only reappearing to sleep. Even then, he slept so close to the wall he nearly pushed the bed away from it so he could fall down on the floor again. Only when Bofur rolled closer and buried his face in Nori’s hair - messy, at this point, and far flatter than normal as he had not bothered to fix it at all - did Nori relax.

When morning came, he still felt regret. This morning however, curled up curled against the chest of a certain toymaker.   
“I’m sorry,” was the first thing he whispered.

“Stop sayin’ that...” Bofur mumbled, barely awake.

“Not until you forgive me!” It sounded far angrier than Nori had meant for it to sound - also far more desperate.

“I just need a bit more time, silly,” Bofur said with a small chuckle. “I’ll forgive ye eventually.”

Nori climbed over Bofur, jumping off the bed, for he had suddenly had an idea. “Stay right there. Seriously, don’t get out of bed.”

Then the thief disappeared out the door. Bofur sat still in the bed for a couple of minutes, listening for Nori, but soon laid down and dozed off again. Although he had heard a lot of scrambling about in the kitchen, he ignored it and slept until Nori slammed the door open (with his foot, it turned out, as his hands were full).  
“Breakfast!” Nori announced, a tray in his hands filled with food.

“Breakfast?” Bofur mumbled, still half asleep as he had just fallen asleep again.

“Aye, I made it for you.” Nori placed the tray on the bed and sat down next to it with a hopeful smile on his face, his hair unbraided and falling down over his shoulders.

He suddenly jumped up from the bed again, leaving for only a few seconds before coming back with an armful of flowers - clearly a suggestion from the hobbit, although Bofur wasn’t sure why Bilbo had agreed to help Nori in the first place, as he seemed to take Bofur’s side in this. Perhaps it was because Bilbo figured he deserved a proper apology, Bofur wondered.

Bofur cocked his head, looking from the tray to the thief. “Is this ye trying to make me forgive ye then?”

“I’m just...making breakfast for my favorite dwarf, can’t I do that?” Nori smiled as innocently as he could, and as he’d had a lot of practice, it was a very innocent and convincing smile.

Bofur eventually shrugged and decided to give the food his full attention. He was quite impressed, actually, because he had thought Nori was not that good at cooking - he did not seem the type. At this point the whole tray was overflowing with anything and everything, and when a tankard fell off it and was spilled onto the bed, Bofur realized it had been filled with ale - that was definitely not a suggestion from the hobbit, he decided. 

“Ale for breakfast, huh?” The toymaker smirked.

Nori merely shrugged and laid down beside Bofur - where he now sat propped up against the pillows - occasionally stealing a strip of bacon from the tray (Bofur was now halfway sure there was no plate under the food). Had this been Nori’s attempt to make Bofur forgive him - like Bofur suspected - it was certainly working. Of course, Bofur forgave too easily (if his brother and cousin were to be asked) and Nori knew this.

“I love you,” the thief cooed, sitting up a bit more next to the toymaker.

Bofur rolled his eyes and smiled widely. “I love ye as well, thief. I may not be ready to forgive ye, but yer gettin' close.” 

With this, Nori laughed a bit. He also sat up straight, shoved the tray off the bed - “oy, I wasn’t finished yet!” - and straddled Bofur, pinning his hands to the headboard as he did so. 

“Perhaps...I should replace that oil I lost to the elves?” For the first time Nori's smile was rather insecure - perhaps sex could fix what he had broken, he thought. “I think I saw some at the market yesterday.”

No, absolutely not, Bofur thought to himself - with the addition of a small ‘maybe’ at the end, sent up to his brain (and mouth) from somewhere below his torso as Nori began to kiss his jawline.

“Yes, absolutely yes,” was what he said (or gasped) out loud as Nori dove under the covers and gently began stroking the toymaker’s crotch, warm breaths tickling his skin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nori, no, sex CAN'T fix everything.


	51. Chapter 51

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bifur and Dori are both protective, but neither of Nori.

Bombur trusted Bofur to learn from his own mistakes. Bifur did not.

Ori trusted Nori to...nevermind, Ori was too busy tracing Dwalin’s tattoos (the ones that stuck out from under his tunic, that is, not the ones under it) to pay attention to Nori. Dori did not trust Nori to play nicely. Neither did Bifur.

“Pass me the pipeweed, will ye?” Bofur’s soft gaze followed Nori as the thief did what he was asked to. “Thank ye, love.”

At this, Bifur’s eyes narrowed, but he said nothing. A few hours later, Bofur did it again, at the dinner table this time.

“Can ye hand me the salt?” Bofur asked, a longing look following Nori as he did so. “Thank ye, my dear.”

This time, Dori noticed it too. While he was happy to see that his brother was no longer wailing under his bed, he was concerned that Bofur had forgiven him so easily - if Nori could get away with this, he could get away with practically anything. Once dinner was finished, and the Company had talked in the kitchen for another hour, Bofur and Ori helping Bilbo clean up after their feast, Dori waited patiently for Bofur and Nori to leave the kitchen. Bifur followed them out, and the two older dwarves - completely unaware that the other had seen it too - both grabbed Bofur by the shoulder and pulled him to the side (there was a moment when Bifur tugged one way and Dori pulled toward himself, but after a second, Dori decided to push, so Bofur was pressed into a cupboard with Bifur behind him and Dori in front of him). Sitting in the cupboard, Dori closed the door, so that Nori would not come back and see them talking to Bofur.

“ _Forgiveness_ ,” Bifur grunted, unsure how to put this without his hand signs, as it was too dark for Bofur to see. “ _Too easy_.”

“I agree,” Dori started, before Bofur managed to figure out what was going on and interrupted him.

“Well he brought me breakfast and flowers...I didn't actually say it, but aye, I think I forgive him." Bofur shrugged, even though he knew the other two could not see him. “He really did seem to mean it, and I can’t stand to see him like that.”

Bifur knew what that was like - seeing your One hurt or regretful was something that could tear the will of any dwarf, no matter how strong. As Bofur could hardly stand something like that (being exceptionally caring for a dwarf), Bifur realized it was a bit unfair of him to expect it. Dori did not know what it was like seeing your One in such a state, as he had never met his, but he imagined it was something like seeing Ori or their mother hurt and regretful. Perhaps Nori as well, seeing him so miserable was what made Dori happy that Nori had a One, so the older brother did not have to deal with it.

“ _Flowers_?” Bifur snorted.

“Aye, I think he got advice from the hobbit, it sounds like a hobbit thing, doesn’t it? That’s why I suggested it for Bilbo in the first place.” Bofur laughed, and Dori was silent.

Bifur laughed, that horrible broken laugh, nothing like the one he’d had before the Axe, but Bofur loved it. He loved hearing his cousin laugh again, because if there was one thing Bofur hated, it was to see his loved ones unhappy - so seeing the opposite filled him with joy.

Nori turned when he reached the bedroom door. Bofur was not there. Odd, he thought, and then went inside the bedroom, undressed and laid down to wait for his toymaker - perhaps they could get a chance to use that oil before they went to sleep. He waited, thinking about the fun they could have once Bofur came to the bedroom, and considered taking care of himself and then going to sleep when Bofur had not come back in the hour that had passed. Eventually, he gave up on taking care of himself, and simply drifted off to sleep. He did not notice when Bofur sneaked into the room, threw off his clothes and slid in under the covers by the thief’s side, the toymaker pressing himself against Nori, arms around his torso and both hands on his chest to feel Nori’s heartbeat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some serious problems in consistency coming riiiight up. As in, Bofur is all good, Nori ruins is again, and Bilbo is way sassy.


	52. Chapter 52

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dwarves waking up, more or less comfortable, some with company.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter makes no sense in my made up timeline but I wanted it ok. It was too fluffy to just discard!

Dwalin woke up to a light snoring right by his ear. He was on his side, curled against the wall, and the dwarven warmth against his back could only mean Ori managed to sneak away from Dori’s watchful eyes (while the older brother had a room of his own, he would sit outside Ori’s door until the scribe fell asleep). It felt strange, Dwalin thought, that Ori was the one with his arms around the other, as if Dwalin needed to be protected.

“Little one,” the warrior whispered affectionately as he turned to face Ori.

He placed a gentle kiss on Ori’s forehead and then closed his eyes to sleep again, the younger dwarf nuzzled up against his neck.

Thorin woke in a similar manner, except he was facing his One, face pressed against the hobbit’s chest. Bilbo had one arm tucked under his pillow, and the other wrapped around the king. In return, the king held both arms around the hobbit, and both legs loosely pulled up to meet behind Bilbo’s thighs.

“My dear halfling,” Thorin mumbled to Bilbo’s chest, not caring if Bilbo heard him or not.

The vibrations of the dwarf’s voice tickled the hobbit, luring out a soft chuckle. 

“My dear king,” Bilbo mumbled into Thorin’s hair, gently stroking it as he did so.

Fili woke up to find his pillow covered in drool, and his brother back to back with him, legs sprawled over the majority of the bed and arms stretched out before himself. The younger one had probably had a nightmare and sneaked over to Fili’s bed for comfort, like he had done in his youth. Kili snored, and Fili pushed him off the bed, attempting to go back to sleep again.

“Meanie,” Kili teased, jumping back onto the bed again.

“Baby,” Fili snorted back, smiling a bit.

This time, Kili tried to take as little place as possible, and Fili was glad his brother had brought his own covers, or the younger one would have stolen Fili’s.

Bifur woke with a heavy heart caused by the memories shown to him in the dream. He dreamt of Her, and the broad smile she wore whenever Bifur was around. He remembered the way she would braid her hair - oh, it would take over an hour at times - and her scent. 

“ _For you_ ,” he whispered to the ceiling, calmly.

Despite the dream, he did this with a smile, a calm and kind smile. Words could not explain the pain he felt, yet he liked it - it was better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all.

Bofur woke slowly, his ear pressed against Nori’s chest - the calm heartbeats were what woke him, he thought, but they were too quiet to do so. Taking a deep breath, he shifted to lay on his back, only to feel Nori respond to the movement by shifting a bit as well. Bofur noted that the thief had curled up around the toymaker’s head a little, as if protecting him. 

Nori, being such a light sleeper, had woken up when Bofur started thrashing around in his sleep, courtesy of a nightmare. He had done the only thing he could: he calmly whispered to his One, and when Bofur had stopped moving, Nori had shuffled closer, both toward the headboard and Bofur, and carefully wrapped himself around the other, his knees brushing Bofur’s hip, and his chest tickled by his One’s hair. Like this, he had fallen back asleep again.

“My thief,” Bofur whispered - he did not know where his hands had been before, because it felt like they had always been on Nori’s ankle, his thumb rubbing gently.

“My toymaker,” Nori mumbled back, reaching his hand down to softly trace the scar across Bofur’s chest with his nimble fingers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Headcanons include: Nori is a light sleeper, Kili drools and takes up a lot of space when he sleeps, and Fili snores. More than Kili. Also, Dwalin likes to sleep in.


	53. Chapter 53

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything is fine. Then Nori manages to ruin it again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> An extra chapter today because I'm on a break from school this week. Tying to write a lot buuuut...well at least I'm trying.

Thorin faced the same decisions as he had at Beorn's house - should they stay longer, safe and happy, or should they continue their quest to Erebor? Bilbo, of course, only made it so much harder, as he was having the same problems. The Baggins half of the hobbit wanted to stay in the warmth with all the food and the real beds. The Took half of him was excited to go see an actual dragon. The king wondered if his One was possibly schizophrenic. 

"Perhaps we should get this whole dragon business over with," Bilbo decided eventually - it appeared he made most important decisions for the Company at this point. "We could pack and leave within the hour."

"But are you sure-" Thorin started, frowning, terribly concerned for his burglar.

"Yes, no arguing, start packing," Bilbo huffed, stomping toward his room (which Thorin had made a habit of sneaking into at night when he thought nobody saw).

Thorin's shoulders slumped a bit in defeat, but Dwalin and Nori only laughed at the scene that had taken place in the livingroom of the house where they were staying, where Thorin stood in the doorway and Nori sat on the armrest of the couch, one arm protectively around Bofur (with Bifur on the other side of the behatted dwarf - the older toymaker would occasionally pinch Nori’s hand, still not pleased that he had been forgiven so easily).

"The halfling is bossing yeh around, my king. There's something I never thought I'd see!" Dwalin managed between his rumbling laughs.

The king glared at him, but blushed a slight bit. "Shut up." Thorin then growled words none of them could hear, and promptly left.

Bofur grinned. “I think he likes it, actually. Maybe he's into being submissive.”

A majority of the Company raised their eyebrows at this, and Dwalin laughed even more at this point, Ori snickering a bit at his side (Dori however turned red and wished he'd had the chance to cover poor Ori's ears). Balin felt rather embarrassed that he had assumed Thorin was the dominant of the two, and then proceeded to feel even more embarrassed because this was not their business and they should not care in the least.

"Perhaps we should start packing," Balin announced, a bit bothered by his own mind.

Bombur nodded in agreement, and the Company went back to their own rooms, starting to pack. Nori did so with his back turned to Bofur, and Bofur thought very little of this - he even hummed softly - until Nori started speaking.

"I know I did wrong, and that I acted like a child about it," Nori whispered so quietly Bofur first thought he had imagined it. "I know you're mainly forgiving me because I am your One, but also because you are far too compassionate for your own good." 

Bofur said nothing, but turned, softly looking at the other dwarf. 

"Love, you are too soft-hearted, this is widely known. I know you can't bring yourself to push me away, but know that I will give you anything you need, if you only ask." Nori sighed, feeling as though words could not express what he needed to say. "I am yours, always, but I will give you a bit of space."

Bofur merely nodded solemnly. He wished the thief - his thief - had merely kept quiet. It was as though the feeling that had lingered for days was amplified by Nori's words. While Bofur did not say anything he gently guided Nori's hand off his shoulder when he noticed it had appeared there, but he held it in his own for a few seconds, planting a gentle kiss on it, before letting go and returning to packing.

The toymaker took a deep breath and straightened up, allowing a smile to spread on his face, as they opened the door and went into the hallway, meeting a rather sad smile from Dori, and a warm look from Bifur. As Bofur propped himself up against a smll table, he was gifted a hug from his brother.

"Don't you worry, brother," Bombur said. "It will always work out in the end."

"I know, Bom," Bofur mumbled, his smile widening.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bilbo is sassy. Especially in the book. So yeah this feels legit. 
> 
> Also unrelated: to me, Bofur is bottom (mostly, but perhaps not always) in every single pairing I put him in. Dang. Meanwile, Dwalin tops everyone, although in the case of Dwalin/Nori he could be convinced to make exceptions (however he will do everything to please his lover, as long as his rear is not involved too much).


	54. Chapter 54

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bifur has had it with your shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my silly little brain was all "oh, no comments on the last chapter, I guess I'll wait with the next one" but then my loyal dwarf-loving heart was all "fuck that, uploading new chapter NOW" - I've updated this fic literally every morning for exactly a month now. Sure ain't gonna stop now!
> 
> Additionally: you know those movies where a writer goes someplace calm, a bit...away from everyone else, mostly to work on the novel or whatever and then crazy shit happens? Yeah, this chapter is that crazy shit.

Ori grew concerned with his brother (and his brother's relationship). When they - for the first time since Mirkwood - camped outdoors, Nori had tried to take back his place by Ori's side when sleeping (Dwalin had taken that place constantly, as if guarding the scribe, ever since he had asked for permission to court Ori). Dori had kept his place on Ori's left side, not at all uncomfortable with his brother practically sleeping on the warrior. But Nori demanded his place back from Dwalin, and Dwalin was reluctant. In the end, Nori slept by Dori's side instead.

Meanwhile, Bofur curled up near the hobbit (who would sleep with Thorin on his other side), Bombur by his side. He did not avoid Nori. He did not push Nori away. If anything, he was waiting for Nori to approach him (but Nori was of course still feeling guilty). Neither dwarf seemed to understand that the other was merely waiting, both of them scared of taking the first step and say something.

This frustrated Bifur more than enough. He may not have approved of the thief, and he did not think the thief had deserved his forgiveness quite yet, but his cousin deserved more than a lying thief who would avoid him after what had happened. And so, during the week they spent slowly moving up to the mountain, he worked on a detailed wooden carving. When Bofur approached him, the older dwarf would grunt at the other until Bofur left. When Bombur approached him, Bifur would hide the carving (being aware that Bombur did not keep secrets very well). 

However, when Ori hesitantly walked up to Bifur, the older one did not hide it or tell the scribe to go away.

"Ohh," was the sound that escaped Ori at the sight of it.

" _Not ready_ ," Bifur grumbled. " _Soon._ "

Ori turned to look at the rest of the Company, himslef and Bifur both with their backs against the very small fire Thorin had allowed them to make. "Is there anything I can do to help, Mister Bifur?" 

He snorted, looked up at the scribe and - in a combination of Khuzdul and handsigns - he expressed how funny and tragic it was that he was spending so much time trying to help a thief apologize.

"Ah, you're doing it for Bofur too though?" Ori had stopped feeling insulted when other's referred to his brother as 'the thief'.

Bifur nodded, and Ori sat quietly - he was trying to think of a way he could help. After a few minutes, he licked his lips excitedly and pulled out a scroll of paper that Dwalin had gifted him. He began to scribbling quickly, causing Bifur to stop the carving and stare at the scroll of paper in Ori's lap.

" _Drawing. What_?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm just sketching a bit," Ori grinned. "I was thinking...maybe this could go with the carving?"

" _Good_ ," Bifur grunted. " _Good idea_."

Bofur wondered, as did Bombur. Nori looked on curiously as his brother sat with Bifur, back turned to the Company, and he considered sneaking up on them to see what they could possibly be doing. When Dwalin was chased off by Bifur, Ori giving the warrior a sympathetic look, Nori became even more curious. The thief was never all that patient. He was used to either getting or taking what he wanted without waiting.

"What do you suppose they're doing?" he mumbled to Dori.

Dori merely shook his head.

"I'm curious..." Nori bit down on his pipe.

As the night progressed, Bofur got ready to go to bed. When he sat down on his bedroll however, he found two pieces of parchment on it. First, he looked at the one with text on it. He could not possibly make out any of the letters, so he moved back to the fire. At this point, he still could not make out what it said, but not because of the light; he blushed a bit as he tried to not make it obvious he was having trouble reading it. 

"It says 'Nori'. Mine said 'Bofur'," the thief mumbled, having sneaked closer without the toymaker noticing.

He held up a slip of paper (although Bofur could not quite read it, he was not stupid: it definitely said more than just his name), and along with it a carving. A carving that was clearly made by Bifur - nobody else had that skill - portraying a lean dwarf with hair in three peaks, and another dwarf by the first one's side, a hat on his head and three braids sticking out from under it. Nori reached over to pull out the second piece of parchment of the two Bofur held, revealing a sketch of the same two dwarves, broad smiles on their faces. 

"I think they're trying to make us talk to each other again," Nori mumbled. 

"And a good job they did," Bofur whispered, shyly looking up at Nori from under his hat.

"I love you." The thief gently put his arm around Bofur's shoulders, leaning his head on the toymaker's shoulder.

"I love ye too." Bofur leaned against Nori's head. "Don't go avoidin' me again, yes?"

"If you want, I could borrow some needle and thread from Dori and stitch our tunics together - I can assure you my stitches are very neat. Then I'll have no choice but to follow you around everywhere," Nori joked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hinting at Bofur having dyslexia. Or like...that he never learned to read. Nori, however, definitely can.
> 
> Buuut writing the other dwarf's name on the notes was Ori's way of going "go talk to this person!" - Bifur was going to drag them together and give them both the carving.


	55. Chapter 55

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erebor is entered and exited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't remember exactly how this went in the book, and I'm too sick to care that it's not quite right.

Bilbo remembered how he had sarcastically joked about sitting on the doorstep of Erebor until he though of a way to open it. It had been far funnier if that was not what he ended up doing. They had found the door, or so they thought, but they had no idea how to open it. The Company - or rather twelve of them - sat hidden near the door, a good hundred feet over the two dwarves who stayed below with the ponies and most supplies: Bombur doubted he could get up there without falling to his death, and Bofur stayed for his brother's sake.

"What if something attacks in the night? Can't you come with us, please?" Nori had pleaded. "What if Smaug comes out for a walk and sees you?" 

"I can't let my brother stay down here alone. I'm certain I'll be fine, my dear," Bofur told his thief, right before practically covering Nori's face with gentle kisses. 

While, yes, Bofur had seen Nori uncomfortable and hesitant and nervous, this was the first time anyone in the Company saw Nori actually blush properly (Ori and Dori were no exception). 

"We'll hoist you up with a rope if you change your mind. We could send someone down to keep Bombur company too," Nori mumbled once Bofur let go of him long enough for him to stop blushing.

Bofur did change his mind, but only for about four hours, one at a time - Fili and Kili volunteered to go down, which was odd, but Bofur happily waved at them on the way up, which in turn made both princes grin like idiots (Fili in particular, and Kili mostly for his brother's sake). He spent most of these four hours with Nori desperately clinging to his side as he talked to Bifur, Bilbo and Ori. Bilbo would desperately ask for advice regarding the door. Nori would say very little, and he actually fell asleep on Bofur's shoulder at one point. When Nori finally let go to take a piss, Ori shuffled closer to the toymaker, away from under Dwalin's arm (leaving Dwalin with a confused frown as he continued to eat his supper). 

"He hardly sleeps. He's really scared for your sake," Ori whispered, not as if he was begging Bofur to something about it, but only to inform him of it. "He only relaxes when you're up here."

"I know," Bofur mumbled back. "It's nearly Durin's Day though, then we'll get through to the mountain. Then...with some luck, he can get some rest."

"I hope so, Mister Bofur." Ori shot him a kind smile.

No more than a day later did Bilbo see the keyhole for the door - Nori and Thorin and Bilbo were all convinced they had scanned over that particular place of the solid rock more than a dozen times since then. The first thing Nori did was to have Ori write a note - "it's open" - and he prayed Bombur could read better than Bofur as they sent it down to the two brothers. Then came the second biggest fight Bilbo and Thorin would ever have, about whether or not the hobbit should go in.

"No, I forbid it!" Thorin would hiss over and over.

"You can't forbid me from doing things, I am not your possesion. I did **not** come all this way just to sit out here like a coward." Bilbo then ran into the mountain, and Balin and Dwalin had to hold Thorin back to keep him from running after him - Thorin had never looked as close to crying as he did now, according to Fili and Kili.

Then they waited, in silence, for the hobbit to come back up. When he finally came back, Thorin hugged him so hard Nori was certain Bilbo's ribs would shatter (he was also fairly certain their king was sobbing and asking for forgiveness into the hobbit's hair). After a few hours, the hobbit insisted he would take another look. Thorin let him go this time, but he quite possibly should not have. The next time Bilbo came back up, the dragon roared through the halls, a sound that had the king frozen in terror - Smaug was coming out to greet them.

" _My cousins_!" Bifur cried, grabbing Nori by the shoulder and pulling him along to the edge to help him.

Nori's eyes widened. "Aulë."

"Take Ori into the mountain," Dwalin told Dori, setting off after Bifur and Nori along with Gloin, Fili and Kili (the king appeared to be too busy dragging the hobbit back in there to keep an eye on his nephews).

Nori's arms ached as he and Fili pulled Bofur up, letting the other four dwarves deal with Bombur - it was a good thing Dwalin was nearly as strong as Dori, otherwise they would never have gotten Bombur up. The thief did not let go of his toymaker for a second until they were (arguably) safe inside the mountain, and even then he did not look away from Bofur as the toymaker gave his brother and his cousin a tight hug each. 

"Hang on, what's that...sound...?" Fili's voice was little more than a whisper as he passed the toymaker and the thief who both stood closest to the exit.

It was only at the last second that Bofur understood, and were it not for his reflexes, Fili would at this point be flat under a ton of rocks, and not comfortably covered by the arms of a warm dwarf, thrown against the ground merely inches from the many rocks that had fallen from the ceiling. Nori felt a pang of jealousy (even though the prince had hardly intended for it to happen), but he remained pressed against the wall.

"We're trapped," Bofur whispered as he looked up behind himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter mostly exists because dang I wanted Bofur to kiss Nori all over his pretty face.


	56. Chapter 56

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When the dragon is dead, the time has come.

"Smaug is dead."

Oin had a suprised look on his face as he informed the Company. Bofur cheered, as did the princes, but Nori had a difficult time believing in this. What could have killed Smaug? Ori sobbed in relief, and Nori would have given him a hug, was the scribe not busy holding his warrior so tightly Dwalin made a face that expressed a slight bit of pain. Of course, Nori himself (not being quite as strong as his two brothers) found that he was restrained by the toymaker whose arms were tightly wrapped against his waist.

That night, Bombur - with the help of his brother and a very reluctant thief (who desperately wanted to be liked by Bofur's kin) - did what he could with their few supplies to give them something that would resemble a feast. Nobody noticed when Ori sneaked off, Dalin's hand in his. Nobody but Dwalin saw as the scribe grabbed him by the shoulders and kissed him passionately, complete with grinding against the older dwarf.

"Please, Dwalin," Ori whispered, his pleading eyes locked on Dwalin's as he remained pressed against him. "I...this could be our way of celebrating the dragon's death."

"By Mahal..." Dwalin gasped, having to shut his eyes tightly just to form a whole sentence - Ori was not the only one getting impatient. "What about...oil?" 

At this, Ori blushed deeply. "Perhaps...I think...Bofur or Nori might have some?" he stammered.

"So...yeh want me to ask yer brother - the one who broke my nose, for that matter - for oil so I can strip yeh naked and make yeh moan in a half burned mountain?"

Ori nodded.

"After our little feast, then. I have preparations to make. First food, then amazing sex for my clever scribe." Dwalin grinned widely at this, as did Ori.

Ori skipped back to the rest of the Company as Dwalin walked the opposite way. The warrior was then late for supper, but Bofur had barely finished his own before Dwalin tapped him on the shoulder, asking to speak with him privately. Nori shot the warrior a confused look before his toymaker disappeared alongside Dwalin.

"What can I do fer ye, my friend?" Bofur asked, seemingly in an exceptionally good mood.

Dwalin mumbled something that Bofur could not hear, and the toymaker tilted his head to the side and asked Dwalin to repeat it. He mumbled again, but loud enough for Bofur to hear.

"Oil?" Bofur repeated, asking himself what Dwalin would want it for.

The taller dwarf glared at him silently for a small while until Bofur's eyes widened and it suddenly clicked in his mind. "Ori?" He grinned. "'Fraid ye have to ask Nori, I think he has some."

"Yeh **think**?" Dwalin growled.

Bofur nodded happily. "Aye, Mister Dwalin, sir. Don't ye worry, as long as ye take a gentle approach to the subject, I'm sure he'll lend it to ye."

Dwalin growled once more and turned, heading back to the rest of the Company. This time, he tapped Nori on the shoulder, and the thief barely managed to not pull a knife on the warrior - someone walking up to him from behind had before the quest always felt threatening. As he frowned at Dwalin, Bofur (having followed Dwalin closely back) gave Nori an encouraging smile to make him follow Dwalin. 

"Bofur told me...yeh had the oil." Dwalin blushed a tad bit, feeling very uncomfortable with the situation. "Could I borrow it?"

Nori cocked his head much like Bofur had, but not quite for the same reason. "You're expecting me to help you bed my baby brother?" He snorted. "I assume you think you'll...be on top?" (He made a face at this.)

"I, well-" 

“Are you mad? Ori’s just a kid, and I can’t believe I’m saying this either, but I don’t know if I want him to be able to handle you. Son of Fundin, I know you better than you might think, and I doubt many would be able to handle you.”

"I will be extremely gentle," Dwalin assured.

Nori, however, hissed at him, not sure whether to get pissed or be amused. "Gentle my ass!"

Dwalin's patience was growing thin at this point. "Give me the bloody oil already!"

Nori only glared.

"Please?" the warrior tried.

"Please...?" Nori motioned for Dwalin to continue the sentence.

"Please, Nori?" Dwalin hesitated as Nori kept motioning with his hand, faster now, as if trying to draw the words out from Dwalin with force. "Please, sir?"

"There you go! That wasn't so hard, was it?" he laughed. "Calling a thief 'sir'... Go on then, catch!" Nori swiftly pulled the vial out from one of his pockets, throwing it up into the air above Dwalin.

The older dwarf's fingers had barely closed around it before he was pushed to the grund, Nori's knee on his chest but no knives pulled. Dwalin glared at him, still firmly clutching the vial, as the thief stood up again, a wide grin on his face as he did so.

"If you hurt him, I will know," he said, sounding more amused than Dwalin would have ever thought he would in a situation like this, as he backed away from the room.

He didn't need to finish the threat for Dwalin to guess how it would end, but he had no plans to hurt the scribe as he took Ori's hand and led him through the halls, past many burned homes and into one that seemed far more dusty than burned. The bedroom, however, was dimly lit by the few candles Dwalin had found in the cupboards and cabinets, and he had tried to dust off as much of the room as he could. The bed was covered by a couple of blankets, also found in the home, and Ori's face lit up with joy as Dwalin tugged him toward the bed, undressing the scribe as gently as he could as Ori tried his best to return the favor.

"Dwalin...I love you," Ori whispered softly, breath shaky with excitement.

"I love yeh too, my scribe." 

Dwalin made a point of being as careful as possible as he showered the younger one in kisses, hands exploring his body as he laid back on the bed, Dwalin hovering above. Not until he got permission did he slip a finger in, letting Ori get used to the feeling before moving on. Only when Ori begged did Dwalin coat himself with the oil, attempting to distract the scribe with passionate kisses as he pushed in, making Ori moan into his mouth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ori FINALLY gets what he wants. Also this chapter is halfway dedicated to the guest going by Ursar.


	57. Chapter 57

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Battle of Five Armies.

Nori felt about ready to throw up. The king appeared to have gone mad. Bilbo had given away the Arkenstone, letting the humans and elves trade it to Thorin for a share of gold. This led to the biggest argument the king and the hobbit would ever have, resulting in Thorin sobbing on the floor like a helpless child, and Bilbo leaving out of guilt. When the king's nephews attempted to help him up he had screamed at them.

The last thing Bilbo had said, whispering to Thorin as he left, was: "I'm sorry, I thought it was for your own good."

Nori did not know how much time had passed since. Suddenly he was standing at the gates of Erebor, a set of curved daggers in his hands and Bofur by his side. Dwalin seemed calm enough (whispering to Ori a reminder to stay behind him at all times) but Ori was shaking from head to toe. Dori kept one calming hand on Ori's shoulder, but he appeared to have traded brothers with Dwalin, as he stood firmly planted by Balin's side; both of the older dwarves worse very grim expressions. The king had not slept for days, and the princes both stood by his side, watching him carefully. Fili glanced toward Bofur - something Nori pretended not to see - and mouthed 'I'm sorry'.

Nori shifted, leaning closer to his toymaker. "I..." he tried before the words got stuck.

Bofur's hand found its way onto Nori's. "I love ye. More than words can express."

The thief nodded - it was all he had time to do before the thirteen dwarves stormed onto the battlefield when Oin and Gloin both opened the gate when Thorin had given the order. Bofur was the first to kill an orc, careful to avoid the elf behind him as he took the orc's head off with the hammer. Dwalin was the second, and while he knew none of the others would be counting, he kept a tab on how many he had killed. Bifur and Bombur were nearly as dangerous as Dwalin as they destructively ran over everything in their way.

Bofur had little time to worry at the point that he realized Nori had vanished, and he only dedicated it a brief thought - perhaps he went after Dwalin and Ori to keep an eye on his younger brother? The toymaker continued to follow his cousin and brother, watching their backs as they plowed through the army of orcs. He only slowed down when he suddenly got a mace sent into his left knee. In a matter of seconds he was up again, limping after his cousin.

It was not until the Eagles arrived, taking care of the large amount of orcs and goblins and the occasional warg still left, that Bofur realized how hungry he was, and how much his knee really did hurt. Bifur hauled him along, still gripping his replacement spear when Gloin shouted at them to follow. Bofur was glad to see Fili come limping toward him, pulling him in for a hug.

"Aulë, is that an...did ye get shot with an arrow? I can see a piece of it sticking out of yer shoulder," Bofur gasped as his fingers brushed over the broken arrow.

"Two. Second one just barely touched my leg though." Fili grinned, at this, but then took a small step backwards as his grin faded. "Kili's a little bit worse - can't even stand up yet - and Thorin's still unconscious."

Bofur looked down, frowning. "What about Nori?" was all he managed as he leaned down, hands shaking when he lifted up the dagger that stared up at him from under his foot - the dagger looked so terribly familiar.

"We...don't know yet. We don't know where he is."

The toymaker stood again, finally recognizing the weapon in his hands. "This is Nori's...I know this dagger, this is Nori's dagger!"

Panicking, Bofur began to stumble over the dead men on the ground, turning over every dwarf he found on the ground. When he saw the familiar red-brown tuft of hair sticking out from under a warg, Bofur suddenly feared for what he would see. Despite this - of course - he made his way over to his One, using as much strength as he had left to push the warg to the side. Only then did he see the pool of blood that had formed under Nori, and the dagger that was stuck through his arm, and the broken arrows piercing his leg and shoulder clean through.

"Nori, love, don't die," Bofur cried out.

"For you," Nori whispered, "I promise."

Even as he laid dying on the ground, he offered a weak grin. Bofur nearly started sobbing on his thief's chest at this, stopping himself for two reasons: he needed to get Nori to someone who could help him, and he would rather not put too much pressure on the bleeding cut that had made it's way through Nori's jerkin, tunic, and underclothes. So Bofur lifted his One up, careful not to touch any wounds or drop him. At the point that he finally made it to the tents that were already up to tend to the wounded, Bofur desperately cried for help for the unconscious dwarf in his arms. The second Nori left his arms, the toymaker's leg gave away under him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OF COURSE I'd let the Durin's live! I can't stand killing those three. Never. Bleh. 
> 
> I don't really like this chapter but, hey, I have to include the battle.


	58. Chapter 58

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bofur has never been so scared. Neither has Bilbo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh so this chapter got a bit delayed (as in hours, seeing as how I **usually** upload a chapter every **morning** ) cause I've been sort of busy since I woke up. Sorry!

Bofur kept shouting at the nurses of various species (mostly elves) that he didn't need their help - "help Nori instead!"

Bifur, nor Bombur for that matter, had ever seen Bofur shout so much with such annoyance in his voice. In fact, they had never seen him this frustrated at all, as he demanded Bifur would assist him in making his way to the tent where Nori was being tended to alongside a human and another dwarf. Outside the tent, slouched on the ground, sat Dori with a bandage wrapped around his head which barely allowed him to see Bofur sit down beside him.

"They won't let me see him," Dori growled.

"I suppose they want to stabilize him first." Bofur tugged as the grass as Bifur went to find out how the king was. "How's the head?"

Dori shot him a confused look at first, but then it clicked for him. "Oh, you mean **my** head. It's fine, just a...minor concussion."

Bofur nodded quietly. "What about Ori?"

"That boy is going to be in so much trouble when he recovers - which they promised he would, it wasn't too bad." The way Dori proudly stuck out his chest betrayed him. "Can you believe he took an arrow for Dwalin?"

This made Bofur grin a bit, as he understood Ori's reason, while Dori did not. "I would take one for Nori, ye know. Mahal, I'd take a dozen. I think it's the kind of thing dwarves do for their One."

The older dwarf gave the toymaker a sheepish smile. "I...I suppose so." He put a gentle hand on Bofur's shoulder.

It took hours before any of the nurses even left the tent, not even looking at Bofur or Dori as they did. All they got was a tiny nod, at which Dori helped Bofur up, and the two of them shuffled into the tent. Nori was pale, even in the dimmed light. Neither of them even cast a look on the other dwarf, or the man, before sinking to the ground on either side of Nori's cot.

"Love? Ye awake?" Bofur mumbled, shifting to not put any weight on his damaged leg.

Nori's eye - or rather both, but one was partially covered by a bandage meant for the cut by his temple - fluttered and opened, focusing first on Dori, then on Bofur, then once more on his older brother. "Ori?"

"He's...wounded, but alright. Dwalin's keeping an eye on him." Dori resisted poking Nori in the ribs, as they were probably broken. "We were very worried about you, you know."

Nori tried to snort at that, but found that it hurt too much. "Don’t be. Can't very well leave Bofur here all alone, can I?" He attempted to move his hand toward the toymaker, but could move no more than a finger without grimacing in pain (which resulted in both a painful face and a painful arm).

"No, my dear, don't move," Bofur whispered, moving to hold Nori's hand but merely letting his hand hover an inch over Nori's as if Nori would break the second Bofur touched him.

"I love you,” the thief whispered.

In the small hours of the night, Bilbo found his way to the many tents and cots, guided by the fires that had been lit. He stumbled around, attempting to ask all the terribly tall people where the king was. It was Bifur who found the hobbit, the dwarf having been on his way to Bofur to hand him food. Bilbo was led to Thorin's tent, and softly pushed inside once Bifur understood the hobbit could not move on his own.

"Thorin?" he tried, the dark sparing him of the sight of the king's blood stained bandages.

The response was merely a soft murmur, not a word, just the only sound Thorin could manage - he was not entirely sure he was even alive, as his body did not feel like his own. All he could feel was pain, and occasionally nothing at all, but through it all he had heard a voice so familiar, nothing but a whisper. He was certain he was dead - it was only his imagination - until he felt a soft caress on a hobbit, the light stroke of stubby finger on his cheek.

"Bilbo," he managed, nearly passing out again.

"I'm sorry, Thorin. If I knew...I would never have..." Bilbo mumbled into the crook of Thorin's neck. "I'm so sorry..."


	59. Chapter 59

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dori was not alone in the battle, and Dwalin has not left Ori's side since it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another filler *cackles madly*

In order to make Bofur leave the tent where Nori was currently having feverish nightmares, the two elven nurses had to grab a hold of one arm each and literally carry the toymaker out from there. During the short trip from his place by the cot to outside the tent, Bofur continuously kicked in the air with his right leg, the left one being in too much pain to move around that much.

"Bloody elves," he huffed once they turned to go back inside, leaving Bofur balancing on one leg as he had been been instructed to not put a lot of weight on the other.

He stood balancing on one leg for nearly ten minutes before Dori walked by followed by another dwarf, one that was not part of the Company - certainly, that dwarf must be part of Dain's army. Bofur dedicated little thought to that dwarf though, and was overjoyed to see someone who could help him get anywhere without having to jump on one leg.

"Dori! They wouldn't let me sit by Nori any longer, I need yer help getting to Bifur though, don’t know where he is but I can’t walk anywhere on my own." Bofur grinned widely, tilting his head a bit as well once Dori reached him, still chatting happily with the dwarf.

Bofur now noticed that the dwarf had suspiciously wide hips, and paired with the bust it became obvious this dwarf was female. He then noticed that she, despite seeming like a rather proud and fearsome warrior (truth to be told, she reminded Bofur of both Dwalin and Dis, both in the way she walked and the black mane of hair she sported), appeared to be smiling kindly at Dori, a soft look in her eyes.

"Who's this then?" Bofur said happily, while still balancing on one leg.

"Rin, at your service," she said, bowing slightly.

Still on one leg, the toymaker attempted to bow as well. "Bofur, at yours."

Dori smiled proudly as he told Bofur about how he was saved from a warg by Rin - it turned out she was the reason his worst injury was a minor concussion - whilst he now supported Bofur so that the latter could attempt searching for his cousin. Bofur did not think Dori had figured it out quite yet, but judging by the way this dwarven woman looked at him, Dori was quite possibly her One. As Dori then rushed off to check on both of his brothers, leaving Bofur with Rin, it was obvious the older dwarf did not know yet (either that, or he did not care to acknowledge it).

"It was nice meeting you," she said as she left, back straight and determined steps.

Ori opened his eyes slowly. He smiled widely at the sight of Dwalin by his side and tried to sit up straight on the cot, but a gentle hand pushed him down again.

"You're still here..." Ori mumbled happily.

Dwalin shrugged, a small smile appearing on his face to match the scribe's. "Of course, I promised."

Unlike Nori, Ori was outdoors, only having his cot to keep him off the ground. The tents had been reserved for the dwarves, elves and humans with the worst injuries, as the tents were not enough to hold all the wounded. Ori was happy with this though, as was Dwalin, because it meant the nurses could not make Dwalin leave. In fact, Dwalin had stayed by Ori's side since the battle - at most, he’d been a dozen feet away - much to Dori's liking.

"Did anyone tell yeh about Nori?" Dwalin asked, unsure - had he not, the scribe was entitled to knowing how his brother was doing. "How he's doing and all?"

"Oh, yes, Dori came by while you were talking to one of the nurses. Nori was awake when he and Bofur went to see him, so...I hope he'll make it," Ori mumbled, seemingly certain his older brother would be fine despite his frowning. "I just wish I could talk to him."

Dwalin grinned. "Lad, rest for another day, then I'll bring yeh to him myself."

Ori beamed up at the warrior.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel...dirty for adding an original character in this thing. It feels wrong. It feels like a self-inert, but it's most definitely **not**.


	60. Chapter 60

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The king is dead. A few weeks later, the same king is concerned about tea.

The king was dead. He had been dead for at least two minutes when Bilbo suddenly shot up from where he'd been sitting by Thorin's side. Had the hobbit not desperately attempted to save Thorin, the king would have remained dead. Had anyone but Fili and Kili been in the tent Bilbo would have been dragged away from there, as anyone else would have looked on and seen a halfling abusing a king's dead body. Fili and Kili trusted the hobbit enough to let him use all his strength for restarting Thorin's heart.

After a minute, Thorin coughed weakly. "Why do I feel like...a dragon fell on me?" 

Bilbo could only laugh nervously in relief as he sat down again, one hand still on Thorin's heart as if to make sure it was still beating. Fili sank down onto Kili's cot, hand over his own heart.

"No answer, huh?" the king mumbled, reaching up to cover Bilbo's hand with his own. "Halfling..."

The hobbit interrupted him. "Thorin...I can understand if you hate me, but in case you don't, I would still like to marry you. Now that Erebor is safe, I mean."

Thorin attempted a smile. "I could never hate you."

It took days before the king could stand up, and even then he needed Bilbo to support him. It took a few more before Nori could do the same. Bofur was not the best dwarf to support the thief when he tried his legs out, as the toymaker was forced to limp along with a cane for the next few weeks, but Bofur refused to let anyone else do it instead, the only exception being Dori. Dain Ironfoot and his dwarves had begun to restore Erebor, something that Thorin was ecstatic about. It was not long before the Company moved into the mountain, although the mountain was not quite ready yet, nor was the Company.

As dwarves were nothing like humans, living with brothers and parents and cousins was common. That the hobbit would live in the royal chambers with the king and his kin was no surprise, but Dori fussed more than enough over Ori living with Dwalin - eventually, Ori agreed to live with his brothers until he had properly married, and Dori was glad to keep that from happening. Ater that, there was the case of Nori and Bofur.

"Bombur may have his family all ready to move in with him, he won't be lonely, but I wan't to live with Bifur. Bom doesn't understand him like I do," Bofur insisted when Nori suggested they should live together.

"I know, personally I'm concerned Dori will end up living alone once Ori moves out..." Nori would have fiddled with his sleeves where he sat by Bofur on a bench, had both of his arms not still been so badly damaged - one was in fact still in a sling, and the other was tightly wrapped in bandages. 

"How about the four of us live together then? I mean, five, with Ori; not me moving in with ye, not ye moving in with me, just...the five of us," Bofur said happily with a shrug. "Seems like the obvious solution." The toymaker gave the thief a kind smile, reaching up to gently stroke Nori’s cheek, also known as one of the few body parts Bofur didn’t seem think would break when he touched it. 

“Right you are, my clever toymaker,” Nori whispered back affectionately; as Bofur could not read minds, he was unaware that Nori so desperately wanted to lean closer for a kiss, but the three broken ribs prevented this.

As this particular conversation was taking place in Bilbo’s (and Thorin’s) brand new (used, old and dusty) kitchen, it was probably for the best they did not kiss - they were not sure how the hobbit would react, as he was very unpredictable at times. Bilbo may have been able to convince Thorin that he needed rest at this point, but Fili and Kili did apparently not, and they spent the morning dusting off the entire home (this was of course Bilbo’s orders for them) whilst Bilbo himself made tea for Thorin, Nori and Bofur, as well as for Dori, who had helped his brother get in there in the first place.

“This is good for you, for your injuries,” the hobbit claimed, but Nori was not entirely convinced.

And so the thief discreetly spiced his own herbal tea with liquor - the bottle having been hidden in his pocket, a gift from Oin, as the old dwarf had laughed and said it would take the edge off the pain - when Bilbo had to tear the two princes away from each other as they had begun fighting in the next room. With much difficulty, he then sipped the tea, wrinkled his nose, and poured more liquor in it. He would have shared it with Bofur, had the hobbit not come back at that exact moment.

“Go on, drink,” Bilbo said, quite glad he could finally make someone drink his tea, including the wounded king slouched over the table, glaring at the cup as if the tea had been poisoned. “Thorin, drink the bloody tea,” he added in a neutral tone when he noticed everyone but Thorin doing as he had asked.

The king gave his hobbit a sad frown before slowly emptying the cup. As much as it amused Bofur to see such a small creature order their king around, he managed to keep his mouth shut about it, mostly due to the fact that said mouth was busy sipping tea. He also managed to keep himself from elbowing Nori - Bofur was quite proud of the amount of restraint he had today. 

By the time Nori, Dori and Bofur stumbled, walked and limped (respectively) out from the royal chambers, it was nearly time for dinner. Not for a single second did Bofur consider helping Dori with the food, probably because he had a drunk and injured dwarf practically hanging from his shoulder. He gently helped Nori into the new bedroom the two of them would be sharing in the home Dori had claimed during their visit at the king’s home (after a suggestion from the king himself), gently removing the thief’s boots, as well as his jerkin, before tucking him in under the covers. A sharp sting in his knee then convinced him to shed his own clothes, aside from his underclothes, and crawl into bed for a nap as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Miracle! I don't know how medicine and healing works. So miracles.


	61. Chapter 61

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori is dying due to lack of sex, part 1.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I'm sad to announce there will only be two more chapters after this one. I wish I could continue it forever, but...it has to end eventually! I had planned for a few more chapters after the 63rd one but I can't, I'm scared I'll ruin it. It's like saying goodbye to an old friend...  
> Ahh at least I'll continue writing other stories. Just in the past week I've uploaded two Modern AU fics (one Bagginshield fic, and one Dwori fic), so feel free to check them out?

Bofur woke up to a soft sensation on his lips. Slowly he opened one eye to find his thief giving him gentle kisses.

“This is a good way to wake up,” Bofur whispered, returning the gesture as gently as he could, reminding himself that Nori was still badly injured. 

The room was warm, yet he was glad to be cuddled up against his One. However, when he felt a gentle touch trailing from his chest to his crotch, Bofur nearly fell off the bed. Nori chuckled a bit at this, reaching for Bofur with the right arm - as it was nearly healed compared to the left one - but Bofur shuffled away as far as he could.  
“Yer still badly hurt, I don’t want to make it worse,” he mumbled with a frown.

With a grin, and much difficulty, Nori sat up at stared at his toymaker. “My mouth isn’t hurt...”

There was much hesitation from Bofur before Nori grew impatient and carefully shuffled toward Bofur, his right hand gently caressing the latter’s thigh. Bofur gave in, slowly laying down on the bed once more as Nori placed himself on top of him. He was in fact close to giving in to Nori’s desires (and his own) by the time the door slammed open and Dori promptly walked in, hardly noticing what his brother had been doing to the toymaker. It was not until he reached the window, pulling aside the blinds (which helped very little, as they were after all inside a mountain and could not be reached by the sunlight) that he noticed the shocked expressions on their faces and the placement on Nori’s hand.

“Mahal. You really shouldn’t, you know, considering you’re still injured,” Dori told his brother as he crossed his arms.

“Go away, Dori,” the thief muttered as Bofur sighed deeply.

“I’m serious, brother, were you not injured I wouldn’t have stopped you, but you are, so don’t.” The older brother then turned to Bofur. “Right?”

The toymaker was hesitant, but eventually turned his head toward Nori with a smile that asked for forgiveness. “Yer very badly hurt, I’d like it if ye healed up properly first, love.”

The response was merely a defeated look. Dori smiled triumphantly and then left again as Bofur assisted Nori in getting out of bed and putting on boots. The two of them slowly shuffled out from the room, both of them limping, Nori being supported by Bofur. Once they made their way into the kitchen, they were met by a dwarven woman, the same one Bofur had seen Dori talking to after the battle. To Nori, however, she was a complete stranger.

“Who’re you?” he said rudely, looking her up and down as he did, still practically hanging on Bofur’s shoulder.

“Rin, daughter of Dain Ironfoot of the Iron Hills,” she claimed with a quick bow.

Out of the five residents of the house (as all five were in the room at the moment) the only one who did not look surprised was Dori. Instead, he continued to fly around in the kitchen, preparing enough lunch for the lot of them.

Because of this, Nori turned to his older brother, one eyebrow raised. "What's the daughter of Dain doing in our kitchen?"

"My kitchen," Dori cooed, happy to finally have a home again - at this point, not even his younger brother could ruin his mood.

" **Our** kitchen," Nori insisted with a growl.

"Why don't you ask her about that," the older brother suggested.

When Nori then turned back to Rin, once more looking her over, he noted she refused to meet his eye. He expected that he did not need to ask her, but it seemed she was not keen on answering. That is, until Dori got curious as well and interrupted his cooking to join both brothers in staring at the lady in their kitchen. 

"I..have come with intentions of courting you," she said as she looked up at Dori. "I've come to ask for your brothers' permission."

All three brothers stared at her in disbelief, as did Bofur and Bifur. Ori looked like he was trying very hard to contain his laughter, while Nori's mouth hung open, his brows knitted together almost as though he was a bit disgusted, and Dori looked as though he was about to faint. There were a few silent seconds before Dori realized what was even going on.

If he accepted - and he would - he would have to ask Dain in return. "Mahal save me..."


	62. Chapter 62

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nori is dying due to lack of sex, part 2.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sob* second to last chapter. Why does it have to end!?

Ori had never before seen a library like the one in Erebor. Books, scrolls, tomes; everything he ever wished for. The warrior following him around as if he was Ori's shadow belonged in that category as well, or rather, he was the thing Ori liked most about Erebor. Dwalin only ever left his side when Dori demanded he did so (which was less frequent since Nori let slip that Dwalin had borrowed oil from him), but other than that, the older dwarf constantly kept an eye on the scribe as he begun the task he had been assigned by their still very ill king: to sort out the library.

Dwalin was content following his One around to make sure he was alright, as well as assisting Ori in reaching some of the tomes placed too far up - Dwalin gladly got up on the ladders to reach, as he was not convinced Ori was quite alright yet, and he did not want to risk his scribe falling from the ladder. Personally, Dwalin was concerned he was a bit of a bother, and he told Ori at least once a day that the scribe needed to speak up if he was in fact bothered. Luckily, Ori wanted nothing more than to have his warrior follow him around. 

"That one there, 'The history of Erebor', can you reach it for me?" the scribe asked.

Dwalin nodded and got up on the ladder, looking to where Ori had pointed, but found that he had trouble reading the titles. "What's it look like?" he grunted, a tad bit embarrassed that he had to ask.

"Oh, the black one, gold letters- yes, that one!" And then there was the other reason Ori loved having Dwalin climb up in the ladders: a chance to stare at his arse. 

The warrior quickly reached the floor again, handing the book to his One. "Yer not as discreet as you may think," he laughed as he reached behind Ori to gently squeeze his behind. "Does it feel like it's about dinner time to yeh? I think it is."

Ori hoped for a brief moment that Dwalin had meant for it to be an excuse to go somewhere more private, so he was just a tiny bit disappointed when it turned out Dwalin had actually led him home, into the kitchen, and taken a seat at the table. The scribe’s wish to return to the library was reinforced by Nori whining as he limped into the kitchen, following a fully healed Bofur.

“Come on, both my arms are healed, my ribs too, I don’t need my legs: let’s just go have sex!” the thief groaned, sighing as dramatically as he could purely to make it look like he was dying due to lack of sex.

“Sorry, love, we’re supposed to help Bilbo and Thorin plan the wedding after dinner.” Bofur smiled kindly.

“Wedding schmedding! It’s not that urgent.”

Bofur lifted an eyebrow in amusement. “It’s in less than a week.”

“So, I’m not getting any until the king does? Great.” Nori sat down by Dwalin, slouching, cursing the king as he did so (this put him on the receiving end of an angry glare from Dwalin).

At this, Bofur only laughed a bit, shaking his head as he began cooking. They all thought it strange that Dori did not show up in time for dinner, nor did he show up before they went to the royal chambers. Instead, Nori’s older brother showed up two hours late, pale as a sheet and his braids messy but smiling weakly. When the king asked where he had been, he only shook his head. When Nori asked the same question, he nodded. When Ori asked why he was late, Dori shrugged.

“What’s wrong, Dori? What happened?” Bilbo said eventually, genuinely concerned for the dwarf.

“Rin,” was all he managed to say, still smiling a bit.

“Oh, did you try to ask Dain for permission? Did he say no?” Nori asked.

Dori nodded first, and then shook his head. “He said yes. She...I...she pulled me into the back room and undressed." He gestured with his hands, and his smile grew wider. "And...Aulë... She’s very strong.”

Nori’s jaw dropped, and Bofur laughed warmly, while the hobbit tried to keep a straight face.

“About time!” Dwalin exclaimed.

“How come he gets laid today and I don’t?” Nori muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And no, Dori technically did not get all "omg she's my One" - their whole family is a bit slow, evidently.


	63. Chapter 63

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding of the king and the hobbit; the egagement of the scribe and the warrior; and a tender moment between the thief and the toymaker.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The very last chapter! I'm going to miss this story, including the comments I ocassionally get on it. I feel like I no longer have a reason to get up in the morning... oh well. To everyone who have read this (and in particular those who have stuck with it to the end) : I love you all! You are precious, and this story was for you!

The wedding of Thorin Oakenshield and Bilbo Baggins (upon his request, the invites said 'Baggins-Took', because he felt more like a Took than a Baggins) was the first since Erebor had been reclaimed. It was also the largest wedding to ever take place in Erebor, and not only because Thorin - being the king - was expected to have a large official ceremony for all the dwarves of the mountain, but also because Bilbo insisted on inviting every other human, dwarf and elf he met on the streets of Dale as the city was rebuilt. Additionally, he sent invites to Beorn, Radagast the Brown, and Lord Elrond. None of the hobbits he sent invites to showed up, but he had hardly expected them to. Gandalf was sent many invites, and though none reached him (for the birds they sent could not find him) he showed up anyway.

"This is the happiest day of my life," Thorin had whispered during the ceremony, as Elrond spoke blessings over the two.

"Every day with you is the happiest of my own," Bilbo had replied.

Despite Bilbo's complaints, Thorin quite literally showered his hobbit in gold and jewels by the end of the wedding. During the whole thing, Nori looked on with a soft expression on his face, and Dwalin had never looked so close to crying as he did now (except from the moment when he thought Ori would die in the Battle of Five Armies) - Bofur actually did cry, but he pretended not to notice the cool tears running down his cheeks, and Ori sniffled a bit against Dwalin's shoulder. 

Dwalin could not stop himself from doing what he had planned to for so long, so once they sat down at the table reserved for the thirteen members of the Company of Thorin Oakenshield, as well as the two wizards, Beorn, Thorin's sister, Dain and his daughter (Rin being at the table mainly thanks to Dori, whom she discreetly flirted with throughout the dinner), he spoke up.

"Ori, brother of Nori and Dori" - he had been unsure what to say, as he knew Ori would rather be associated with his brothers than with the father he did not share with the other two - "will yeh do me the honor..." He took a deep breath. "...of marrying me?"

The scribe's first reaction had been to look to his brothers, first Dori (mouth wide open but a small nod of approval) and then Nori (grinning widely and nodding so much Ori thought his brother's head would fall off). His second reaction was to - as calmly as he could - lean toward Dwalin and give him a soft kiss.

"Do you even need to ask?" he mumbled with a fond smile, blushing a tad bit as the whole table took this as a 'yes', and begun cheering.

Within an hour, Dis - having kept quiet most of the evening, teasingly calling it her wedding gift to her brother - shooed the king and his hobbit from the table, laughing as she claimed it was time for them to 'consumate their marriage'. Thorin had rolled his eyes at this, but regardless accompanied Bilbo to the bedroom - previously only Thorin's bedroom - where the otherwise so calm king lost all self-control, practically jumping Bilbo, pressing their bodies together as he kissed the hobbit passionately. 

Naturally, Bilbo responded in a similar way. It was not until he - completely undressed at this point, mostly thanks to the king - felt Thorin's erection press against his thigh that he realized how nervous he was.

"Thorin, I don't know if...if it will...I've never-" Bilbo found that the words kept getting stuck, and he had no idea how to finish the sentence. "I'm concerned that it will...hurt me."

While Thorin did in fact pull back (making Bilbo blush even more, as the hobbit studied the king's body), his eyes still glowed of lust and love, and Bilbo was surprised to see that there was a faint blush on Thorin's cheeks as well. "My dear Bilbo, while I would gladly be the one in you, I was not planning on it tonight. I was rather hoping you'd do me the honor of...taking me."

"Oh. Why didn't you say so?" In that moment, the just-married hobbit felt his heart speed up, and he used as much strength as he could muster to flip the king over so Bilbo was on top. "At your service, my king," he breathed against Thorin's neck. 

In a similar situation - in a not-so-similar room - Bofur felt overwhelmed with desire for his One, as Nori threw him onto their bed, practically ripping the clothes off the toymaker's body, slowly and gently tracing Bofur's whole body with both fingers and mouth. Bofur himself would gladly have done the same thing for Nori, but he found he was pinned down by the thief, currently biting at Bofur's neck with the result of filling the whole room with soft moans.

Bofur found this odd. Not the fact that he was moaning, but the fact that Nori had him firmly pinned down, and seemed to have no plans on letting the toymaker roll onto his belly (so Nori could actually enter him). Even since Erebor was freed of Smaug, Bofur had at most only pleasured his thief with his mouth, as he had been concerned Nori would get hurt, but it was as if Bofur's thief was not in a hurry to get to the part where they had sex.

"Love?" Bofur got a soft hum from Nori in response. "Would ye like me to turn over so ye can fuck me?"

Nori stopped nibbling on Bofur's collarbones to look up at the toymaker with a small smirk. "Definitely not. I'm going to look into your eyes when we _make love_."

"Make-...oh," Bofur mumbled softly, pulling his legs up a bit and letting his feet rest on the mattress, his knees on each side of Nori. "I love ye, my amazing thief..." He reached up to cup his One's face with both hands, planting a soft kiss on his lips.

"I love you more, my wonderful toymaker," Nori mumbled as he reached for the oil with his left hand, the other wrapped around Bofur's erection and his lips tightly pressed against Bofur's.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there are a lot of headcanons (and not just from me) that Nori...never really allowed himself to love another dwarf, with the exception of his brothers. This sort of goes with that. Sex is not love, especially not to Nori, but 'making love' is something different. It's like how during hot sex it might be all rough and 'dang you're so sexy and tight', and during lovemaking it's more tender and 'you are so dear to me'. And I mean they only actually had "that kind of sex" (like, buttsex) once before, so Bofur probably thinks Nori doesn't want to look at him or some bullshit. I'm having a hard time getting everything from thoughts to words today so, sorry, I hope you understand what I meant!  
> Also, I kinda like the whole idea of Thorin being bottom. At least, you know, from time to time. 
> 
> Oh, and for those who wonder, I believe Dori _did_ realize Rin was his One, and they got married. Dwalin and Ori got married first though, and Bofur and Nori waited a few years first.


End file.
